Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran has directed the Wayanad district administration to ensure the participation and coordination of all government departments in the district to mitigate rain-related calamities .
Addressing a meeting of officials to assess the situation in the district here on Saturday, Mr. Saseendran said special attention should be given to families shifted to relief camps.
Officials should focus on people’s health condition and ensure availability of drinking water at the camps, the Minister said.
T. Siddique, MLA, urged the government to expedite steps to provide compensation to farmers who lost their crops, and owners for damage caused to their houses in the rain.
The services of workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) should be utilised to remove heaps of mud formed in heavy rains posing threat to houses, he said, adding that steps should be taken to improve the flow of rainwater into the Kabini dam at Beechanahally in Karnataka to avoid flood-like situations in the district.
Tarpaulin sheets should be distributed to the poor to cover their thatched houses, Mr. Siddique said.
Meanwhile, the district received an average of 1184 mm of rain from June 1.
As many as 890 members of 219 families were shifted to 16 relief camps in the district. Five houses were fully destroyed and 107 houses were destroyed partially in rain-related calamities. An estimated loss of ₹1.26 crore was incurred, District Collector A. Geetha said.
Rain affected 3,167 farmers in the district. Crops, especially plantain, cultivated on 190.03 hectares were destroyed. A total loss of ₹24.36 crore was reported.
Close to 375 electric posts, three transformers, and 30 km of electric cable of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) were destroyed, and a loss of ₹40.1 lakh was recorded, KSEB sources said.
