As the dark clouds hovering over Kerala receded, a blame game on the political front began as the opposition parties have accused the ruling CPI (M), led by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, of failure to deal with the flash floods and landslide that claimed the lives of 42 people across the state.
State opposition leader V D Satheesan, who visited the affected areas, said the government failed to prepare itself despite enough warnings. He also said that CM Vijayan is surrounded by sycophants and is not ready to face criticism or questions on how his government dealt with recurring natural disasters.
“If someone questions or criticises him, they will be branded as traitors or anti-nationals just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing. There is no difference between their style and functioning,” he said.
He said despite the state witnessing four back-to-back natural calamities and losing hundreds of human lives since 2018, the state government failed to place a system to anticipate such disasters and deal with them.
Satheesan also said a red alert was issued after the tragedy in Kottayam and Idukki districts. “The State Disaster Management Authority is reduced to a big disaster. The government needs to be aware of areas that could be affected by floods if water rises a bit in Pampa, Meenachil, Bharathapuzha or any other river for that matter”.
He said Congress has repeatedly called for the strengthening of the early warning weather system since 2018, but nothing happened.
“It seems we are waiting for another tragedy to occur. We need long-term strategies to deal with such calamities, and we have to check ecological degradation of fragile areas also,” he said.
The BJP also came down heavily on the government, saying its inept handling led to the loss of precious lives and properties. “The government failed miserably even after the tragedy also. Volunteers and NGOs are distributing food, water, clothing, masks and other necessities in relief camps,” state BJP president K Surendran said, adding that enough funds were not allocated for relief works.
State Congress president K Sudhakaran also accused the CM of not learning a lesson despite his much-touted trip to the Netherlands to study ways to tackle floods.
“The LDF government collected billions in the name of Flood Relief Fund and Rebuild Kerala project, but nothing happened on the ground. People are still running from pillar to post for help,” he said, adding thousands of people who lost everything in the calamities in the previous years were still living on the roads and relief camps.
However, CPI(M) acting secretary A Vijayaraghavan said that Sudhakaran was playing cheap politics during a calamity. “He has an uncanny knack to attack the CM personally. He proved beyond any doubt that he is not fit for the position he is holding,” he said.
Though weathermen predicted heavy rains in four districts, situations were under control, and many areas remained sunny. Currently, around 30,000 people are staying in 428 rehabilitation camps across the state. “We are with the suffering people. We don’t want to play politics now,” said state revenue minister K Rajan referring to the opposition criticism.