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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor assisted in unloading two truckloads of relief supplies organised by the MP Office in Thiruvananthapuram in Kalpetta on Saturday as rescue operations are still underway in landslide-hit Wayanad. Tharoor said that soft and spongy bedrolls are being provided to the homeless along with other supplies.
Taking to X, Shashi Tharoor shared, "In Kalpetta, Wayanad, helped to unload two truckloads of relief supplies organised by the MP Office in Thiruvananthapuram. While there is no shortage of food in the relief camps, the homeless are sleeping on floors. We have brought soft and spongy bedrolls for them along with other supplies." Earlier, Tharoor called for an active policy framework on disaster response and mitigation on Saturday and asserted that long-term responses from the government are needed to rehabilitate the people affected by the natural disaster. Tharoor told ANI, "Food and so on, is plentifully available in Wayanad but we were able to bring some mattresses, soft, spongy things that you can spread out on the floor and lie on to help people. But all of these are just urgent, immediate responses. We have to think in terms of the longer term as well. For example, the relief camps are all in schools, but the schools have to reopen. Children have to go back to school and study. So we need to get them out into longer-term residential arrangements, such as rented homes or hostels. And the government has to take a role and then we're all helping. Then we have to build homes for them for the longer term." He further pointed out that the Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, has announced that 100+ homes will be built by the Congress alone. "Rehabilitation is a whole big issue. Now there is a proposal coming from the central government to declare 10,000 square kilometres near the Western Ghats in Kerala as ecologically sensitive areas. They're seeking comments from the public for the next 60 days. It's important to understand that the public is the stakeholder. We have to see really what they feel because it's their futures and their lives that will also be affected by all this," he added. The death toll in the massive landslides that occurred on July 30 in Chooralmala and Mundakkai of Wayanad stands at 308 as of Friday, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said. As per the latest update, 215 bodies and 143 body parts were recovered, including 98 males, 87 females and 30 children. The post-mortem procedures were completed on 212 bodies and 140 body parts and 148 bodies have been identified by relatives so far. (ANI)
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