Wayanad:

The Kerala government on Wednesday said it was taking immediate steps to rehabilitate all the families affected by the massive landslides in this north Kerala district more than a week ago.

The announcement was made by state Revenue Minister K Rajan who is part of a Cabinet sub-committee currently camped out close to the disaster areas to assess the situation there.

K Rajan, after an emergency meeting of the committee with the panchayat presidents and secretaries at the Collectorate on the issue of temporary rehabilitation of people in the relief camps, said that assistance will be provided to all eligible persons including those in camps, homes of relatives and hospitals.

There is no truth in the campaigns which claim that people have to register themselves at the camps to be included in the rehabilitation plan, he said.

“The rehabilitation package will be prepared on the basis of accurate data from the landslide affected areas and not on the basis of who is living in the camps,” the minister said.

He said that the propaganda that only those in the camps will get help was not true.

Giving details of the steps taken, K Rajan said that the committee has directed the local bodies to identify vacant houses, quarters, flats and hostels within the panchayat limits for temporary resettlement of the people living in camps operating in various schools.

It will also help to resume classes in the schools where the camps are running, he said.

The minister also said that government quarters and hotels will also be used for temporary resettlement of the landslide survivors.

He also said that where private accomodations, including flat complexes, are concerned, the government will fix the rent and pay the same and none of the survivors would be burdened with the payments.

K Rajan said the plan for temporary resettlement of people is being implemented to provide more comfortable accommodation for the affected people and to resume studies in the schools which are functioning as camps.

The first consideration for rehabilitation of the victims would be the vacant houses, government quarters, hotels, home stays and hostels in panchayats close to the disaster-hit areas, he said.

The minister said that the government’s plan is to safely relocate the people living in the camps in a phased manner.

The number of deaths resulting from the devastating landslides in the Mundakkai and Chooralmala areas of Wayanad on July 30 has increased to 226 with around 138 people missing.

The search operations for those missing from the landslides-hit Chooralmala and Mundakkai areas continued for the ninth day with 1,026 personnel from various forces, including the army and navy, over 500 volunteers and heavy machinery being deployed there.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Thiruvananthapuram:

The India Meteorological Department on Tuesday issued a red alert for the mountain district of Wayanad — which has been rocked by landslides triggered by incessant rains — and all the northern districts of Kerala, indicating that extremely heavy rainfall is expected in these regions.

While the IMD has issued a red alert for eight districts, including Wayanad, an orange alert was issued for Tuesday for Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam districts.

A red alert indicates heavy-to-extremely heavy rain of over 20 cm in 24 hours. An orange alert means very heavy rain of 11 cm to 20 cm, and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 cm and 11 cm.

The red alert was issued for Tuesday in Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts in northern Kerala, as well as Idukki and Thrissur in central Kerala.

The Met office has issued an orange alert for Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts for Wednesday as well.

Meanwhile, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod district authorities have declared a holiday for all educational institutions including the professional colleges in view of the heavy rain prediction.

Train services to and from northern Kerala has been disrupted due to flooding and trees being uprooted at many places along the tracks.

Due to waterlogging and heavy rains, at least 10 trains were fully or partially rescheduled in Kerala.

The Railways said many trains, including the ‘16305’ Ernakulam – Kannur Intercity Express and the ‘16791’ Tirunelveli – Palakkad Palaruvi Express were short terminated at Thrissur and Aluva respectively.

The ‘16302’ Thiruvananthapuram – Shoranur Venad Express will be terminated at Chalakkudy, it added.

Meanwhile, the Guruvayur – Thrissur Daily Express and Shoranur – Thrissur Daily Express, were cancelled.

The Kannur-Thiruvananthapuram Central Janshatabdi Express was terminated at Shoranur Jn. A number of others trains were also either short terminated or rescheduled partially or fully.

The official death count in the Wayanad landslides has gone up to 123, and includes the count of children and women.

Around 128 are admitted to various hospitals and several people are stranded in many places of Wayanad which is continuing to receive heavy rainfall.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)