Government's Wayanad township plan: Not easy as it may seem

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There are many hurdles before the government to distribute assistance under the comprehensive package to those who lost their relatives and homes in the Wayanad landslide disaster. The biggest hurdle is to identify the victims of the landslide and confirm their veracity. There are many cases where all members of the family have gone missing or been killed in the landslides. Many families are left with no successor in the family lineage. There are also no clear numbers about the total number of missing migrant workers in the landslides.

Wayanad District Collectorate has started the registration process. The affected people are not in a position to reach out directly and provide information. The government is trying to distribute the aid in a way to not elicit objections.

The government will have to take time to decide on the exact financial assistance to be allowed to the victims of the landslides. Despite announcing the touted township plan to relocate families, it will not be that easy for the government to walk the talk. Finding land is a big challenge. At least one lakh square meters of space will be required. The central government will be apprehensive to allow permission to build townships in the forest land considered vulnerable to natural disasters.

There are also allegations against the government of not fulfilling the earlier projects proposed in the landslide disaster of 2019.

1. Victims will have to produce documents proving that they are relatives of the deceased. With the landslide erasing everything from them including their house, how will they show up with the documents?

2 . The records of the land and the size of the house will be in the Revenue Department and the Local Government Department. Officials should take a liberal approach if the owner wants to retrieve the documents from there.

3. Information on migrant workers registered under the AWAS scheme will be in government records.

“Aadhaar-linked documents are possible if the owner's phone number is known. Although the revenue department has implemented the Aadhaar-based Thandaperu scheme, the documents can be found by checking the owner's address.

Adalats will be held for those who have lost documents and redressal will be done. The main task is to prepare the list of missing persons. For this, the help of Anganwadi and Asha workers will be sought.” Said Minister Rajan.