Congress leader Rahul Gandhi writes to Munda for urgent help to flood-affected tribal people in Wayanad
New Delhi, Sept 3 (UNI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday requested Central government to take adequate steps to rehabilitate and provide essential commodities to people from tribal communities in his constituency Wayanad, which was badly affected in the recent floods and landslides.
In a letter to Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda, the Congress leader said that Wayanad has large population of scheduled tribes and it is also home to several particularly vulnerable tribal groups, including the Kadars and Kattunayakans.
"As many tribal colonies are located in hilly areas, floods and landslides have destroyed their habitations and rendered their lands uncultivable due to deposition of silt," Gandhi pointed out a day after his three day visit in his constituency.
He also said that many tribal families have appealed for early payment of monetary compensation and a comprehensive rehabilitation package.
"Given the vulnerabilities of scheduled tribes, rehabilitation scheme focused on sustainability and developing climate resilience must be formulated. As the nodal Nodal Ministry for coordinating programmes for Scheduled tribes, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs may spearhead efforts to ensure seamless coordination between the Central Ministries and the State government in this endeavor," Gandhi said.
Pointing out to the upcoming visit of the Inter-Ministerial Central team to flood affected states, including Kerala, the Congress leader raised a number of demands, such as provisioning of clean drinking water in the tribal hamlets, sustainable livelihood generation and measures be create disaster resilient housing for Tribals.
In another letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Congress leader demanded for an early reconstruction of Kaippinikadavu bridge between Kurumbalangode and Chungathara village in Chungathara Grama Panchayath (flood affected area) in Malappuram district of Kerala.
"The Kaippinikadavu bridge, which is the lifeline that connects these two villages across he Chaliyar river, has collapsed. Lack of connectivity between the villages has further slowed down their recovery process. The villagers have appealed for expediting the reconstruction of this bridge", Gandhi wrote.
He also requested to construct a temporary structure to ensure that a safe access between the villages is provided.
During the floods,Gandhi had toured twice in his constituency, which was devastated due to the landslides and many people have died.
In Kerala, 120 persons lost their lives and more than 2.5 lakh people have been displaced due to the torrential rain and flood in August.
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