Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday came out against the Centre and Home Minister Amit Shah for delaying relief aid for rehabilitation of Wayanad landslide survivors.

Speaking to media persons here, he noted that the central government is trying to shied away from its responsibility by making the Mundakai-Churalmala disaster a controversial issue. It is a regrettable move, he said.

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“The Union Home Minister said that the special financial assistance package was not announced because Kerala was late in submitting a detailed report. This is a false statement. He had done this earlier too. When the disaster struck, he said Kerala had ignored the warning of the IMD. Later it was proved that there was no such warning,”  Pinarayi Vijayan said.

“The Prime Minister came to Wayanad on August 10. The needs of Kerala in the context of the disaster were clearly presented to the Central team and the Prime Minister at that stage. Soon after, on August 17, the state government submitted a memorandum to the Centre  detailing the losses incurred in the disaster and the amount that Kerala could demand as per the NDRF norms. It requested an initial assistance of Rs. 1,202 crore for relief operations, including the expected expenses and the additional expenses that would be incurred, “he said.

The Chief Minister said that although 100 days have passed since Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Wayanad, the central government has not even sanctioned a single rupee as special aid for Kerala in the Mundakkai-Chooralmala disaster

“It has been 100 days since the Prime Minister’s visit. In the meantime, assistance has been provided to other states. Not a single rupee has been given to Kerala as special assistance so far,”  CM Vijayan said.

In addition to the memorandum submitted earlier, a post-disaster need assessment was conducted and a detailed report was submitted to the Central government on November 13, he further said.