Members of a rescue team row a boat towards a submerged temple to look for a man believed to be stranded inside the temple. (File Photo)After massive landslides that killed over 100 people in the monsoon season, Kerala government is mulling to bring restrictions on constructions at landslide-prone areas.
In a Facebook post Saturday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the government would bring curbs on construction activities in landslide-prone areas. “Constructing buildings in such areas would attract dangers. An expert committee has been asked to submit a report in this regard within three months. The government would ensure assistance for those who want to move away from danger zones. When new houses are constructed, necessary precautions should be taken,” he wrote in the post.
For the second consecutive year, the state experienced heavy flooding and massive landslides which claimed over 100 lives. More than 2.5 lakh people have been shifted to relief camps.
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Meanwhile, the intensity of rains in Kerala has slowed down. However, the damage is heavier in the northern part of the state this time, particularly in Malappuram and Wayanad.
Rescue operations at the site of a landslide in Puthumala at Wayanad, Kerala. (Express photo)In the first two months of the monsoon season, that is in June and July, the state had recorded a rainfall deficiency of 40 per cent to 50 per cent, with the state administration beginning to prepare for a drought-like situation.
Until July 2, the state had received just 365.99 mm rain against the normal of 697.8 mm, a deficiency of 48 per cent.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a red alert for nine districts in the state on August 9, with educational institutes being shut.
Read | Kerala floods: Under a hill that flattened, they stepped out, their neighbourhood was gone
In the 2018 floods, nearly 400 people were dead and millions were displaced.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Kerala on August 11 and took stock of the situation in Wayanad, which is one of the severely affected areas in the state that was battered by torrential rainfall. Wayanad is Rahul’s Lok Sabha constituency.
Rahul visited a relief camp at Wayanad and patiently heard the woes of the people who were displaced from their homes following flooding and landslides.
