WAYANAD (KERALA), Aug 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday assured the Centre will provide all possible help in the relief and rehabilitation efforts in the landslides-hit areas of Wayanad district.
Modi said everyone’s prayers were with the survivors of the landslides, which he said had ‘shattered’ the dreams of several families.
The Centre will stand together with the Kerala government on helping those who lost everything in the disaster, he said. The landlides have claimed the lives of 226 people so far, while over 130 are missing.
The PM was speaking during a meeting held at the District Collectorate here to review the situation on the ground and work out a plan for the rehabilitation of the landslide victims.
Ever since the tragedy unfolded, he has been in “touch here” and receiving constant updates.
He said he heard from the survivors what they witnessed and experienced and termed the landslides as nature displaying its “furious form.”
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Union Minister Suresh Gopi, ministers of a cabinet sub-committee camping near the disaster site, senior bureaucrats and officials of the local administration were present in the meeting.
Earlier in the day, Modi arrived in Wayanad by helicopter from Kannur airport where he landed around 11 am on Air India One.
On the way to Wayanad, he carried out an aerial survey of the landslide-ravaged areas of Chooralmala, Mundakkai, and Punchirimattam hamlets aboard an Indian Air Force helicopter.
Thereafter, he landed at the SKMJ Higher Secondary School in Kalpetta here and then travelled by road to Chooralmala, where a 190-foot-long Bailey bridge had been built by the army after the disaster.
The PM walked on the bridge, while surveying the damage.
He also trekked through the disaster-stricken Chooralmala to get a firsthand view of the destruction caused by the July 30 landslides.
Modi also visited one of the relief camps, which is home to many of those displaced in the massive landslides, and interacted with some of the survivors, including two children who lost their loved ones in the disaster that has claimed over 200 lives.
He spoke to them, heard their concerns and needs, and tried to comfort them, according to visuals shown on TV channels.
Modi placed his hands on the heads and shoulders of the victims as they broke into tears while recounting their ordeal to the PM.
Modi also went to Dr Moopen’s Medical College where many of those injured in the landslides are undergoing treatment, met with some of the survivors and assured them of all requisite help.
After the review meeting got over, the PM left for the SKMJ Higher Secondary School in Kalpetta from where he will travel by helicopter back to Kannur airport. (Agencies)
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