Kerala govt will help kin of landslide victims, says CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Idukki, : Kerala government will ensure rehabilitation of families of those who died in the landslide at Pettimudi in Idukki district, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday.

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, state Ministers, people’s representatives and government officials, along with the Chief Minister, visited the scene of the tragedy to assess the situation.

After an evaluation meeting at Munnar near here, Vijayan appreciated the rescue workers, who have been engaged in search and rescue operations since August 7.

“After the tragedy, only a few members of many families are alive. There are children among the survivors and in those families. Their education will have to be continued.

The government will have to identify a new place for constructing houses for them,” Vijayan said.

He said the state government has asked a tea estate company to assist the government in identifying a place for building the houses.

“The state government will take care of the educational expenses of the children and the medical expenses of the injured. At the meeting, the current situation of the row of house where the workers resided, was drawn to the attention of the authorities. The government will consider that too,” Vijayan said.

A mound of earth and slush had flattened a row of 20 one- room houses made of tin and asbestos sheets, which housed at least 82 workers and their families at Pettimudi.

The toll in the landslide stands at 55 with three more bodies being recovered on Wednesday from the debris.

The rescue operations, led by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), are continuing for the seventh day on Thursday and a search is on for 15 more missing persons.

The Ministers M M Mani and E Chandarashekharan, and Dean Kuriakose, MP, and E S Bijimol, MLA, were among those who accompanied the Chief Minister and the Governor during the visit to the landslip site.