Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit landslide-hit Wayanad on Saturday. Earlier on Friday, a central team led by Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry Rajiv Kumar visited the disaster-hit area and interacted with the affected people. After this, the inter-ministerial central team said that the impact of the Wayanad landslide is very big and a detailed study is required. During this, the team met with the Kerala Cabinet Sub-Committee and discussed all the rescue operations, relief camps, post-mortem of the bodies, handing over the bodies to the relatives of the deceased, last rites, collection of DNA samples and missing people.

Huge losses in residential areas and agricultural sector

Dr. Shekhar L Kuriyakos, Member Secretary, Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), gave a detailed description of the possible reasons behind the landslide. The state government, in a release, said it has informed the central team that both residential and agricultural areas have suffered heavy damage in Choorlamala, Mundakkai and Punchiri Mattam areas of Wayanad.

'Rs 2,000 crore needed for rehabilitation'
The state government said Rs 2,000 crore is needed for rehabilitation alone. It said there has been heavy damage to the agricultural sector, livestock, houses, buildings, commercial establishments, roads and electricity as well as private properties, and showed drone videos of the disaster-hit area to the central team. Meanwhile, the state government said those who are in relief camps will be rehabilitated in several houses, including government quarters, identified for the purpose.

Cleaning up affected areas will take 90 days: Riyas
Minister P.A. Muhammad Riyas said there are 125 houses, including government residential quarters, and most of them are ready for people to live in. Riyas said that the cabinet sub-committee has directed the district collector to arrange for furniture and other household appliances required for the rehabilitation of the survivors. He said that the cleaning work in the disaster-affected areas will take at least 90 days and people will be kept in relief camps as long as needed.

Cash assistance should be given to the affected - Kerala Government
The state government also said that cash assistance will be provided to the affected people. The cabinet sub-committee said that the state government has taken a tough stand against financial institutions demanding loan repayment from disaster-affected families and has sought the intervention of the central team in this matter.

Search operation will not be conducted on Saturday - Kerala
More than 300 people have lost their lives so far in the devastating landslide that occurred on July 30. Parts of 197 bodies have been recovered, while 133 people are missing. Currently 78 people are undergoing treatment in several hospitals. The government has informed that due to the PM's visit, there will be no search operation on Saturday, but it will resume on Sunday. At present, 23 relief camps are running in Wayanad district, in which 2,243 people from 744 families are staying. 14 camps are running in the disaster affected area alone, where 1,855 people from 642 families are staying. The government informed that among them there are 451 children and 700 women.