Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s extensive visit to the landslide-hit areas of Wayanad in Kerala, his meeting and consoling the victims, some of whom have lost all their relatives and life savings, and his assurance that “it remains our societal duty to ensure they have a stable future and that their aspirations remain intact” come as an apposite soothing touch delivered to the state and its people in the nick of time.
True, the Prime Minister announced no immediate relief package for the state which has witnessed one of the worst natural disasters in history which claimed the lives of close to 300 people and left about 100 missing. However, Mr Modi has indeed asked chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to prepare a detailed memorandum of the state’s demands. The Prime Minister, who spent two-and-a-half hours more than those scheduled for his visit and patiently listened to the woes of the people in the relief camps and at the hospital, calmed many a disturbed nerve before assuring the people that the Union government would help the state liberally for the rehabilitation of those badly affected.
The rescue after the landslide on July 30 was a perfectly synchronised operation with the arms of the Union and the state governments working in tandem to the effect that they were able to save hundreds of people and put them in well-maintained relief camps. The superfast construction of the Bailey bridge by the Indian Army Corps of Engineers played a major part in the operation while state government agencies and party volunteers became their formidable ally while performing the difficult task in inhospitable terrain.
The attention of the nation must now turn to the rehabilitation work next as close to 400 families have lost their homes. The Prime Minister was particularly touched by the plight of the children who became orphans overnight; it is for the governments to ensure that they are administered proper care, as Mr Modi suggested. Further coordination between the centre and the state will be needed in order to provide maximum succour to them, and all the other ill-fated people of Wayanad.
