Wayanad landslide: Home Minister Amit Shah says Centre gave advance warning to Kerala about...

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Kerala government was warned as early as July 23 regarding a possible natural calamity in Wayanad due to heavy rains and nine NDRF teams were rushed to the state the same day. However, the Kerala government did not heed to the early warning and also did not get alerted even by the arrival of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) battalions, he said in the Rajya Sabha.

Shah assured the House that the Narendra Modi government was standing like a "rock" with the Kerala government and people of the state in this moment of the tragedy. He also promised all help from the central government. Intervening in the short duration calling attention motion on the Wayanad landslide tragedy in the Upper House, Shah also assured help and support of the Centre to the state and the people to deal with the situation.

He criticised the opposition for questioning the central government's early warning systems, and its response to the tragedy. The Union minister said an early warning was sent to the state seven days ahead of the July 30 landslide. Another warning was given on July 24 also.

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"Nine NDRF battalions were dispatched on July 23 itself and three more were sent on July 30," Shah said. He further said several states, including Odisha and Gujarat used the early warnings provided by the Centre to reduce impact of natural calamities like cyclone.

Had the Kerala government got itself alerted and acted as soon as NDRF teams landed there, losses could have been minimised, the Home Minister said. Replying to the calling attention motion, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed the House that 133 bodies have been recovered so far and death toll may rise.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)