Model project will be prepared to rehabilitate Wayanad landslides survivors: Minister

A rescue operation underway after a landslide, in Wayanad. (PTI Photo)

A day after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that a township will be built to rehabilitate those displaced by the landslides in this north Kerala district, state Industries Minister P Rajeev on Sunday said a model project will be prepared for it and appealed to all sectors to join hands to achieve this goal.

Speaking at a meeting of plantation owners and representatives at the Wayanad collectorate, Rajeev said the government aims to set up a safe township project with everyone's support.

The minister said the rehabilitation project will be implemented through the government's distress relief fund.

He also termed as "baseless" the social media campaigns against the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF). ,The Secretary of the Finance Department is in charge of the fund and every rupee is accounted for, he said.

"The fund is subject to CAG audit and also comes under the ambit of the Right to Information Act," he pointed out.

The minister said that the government has tasked A Geeta, Joint Commissioner of Land Revenue and former District Collector of Wayanad, to find a suitable place to resettle the people who have lost their families, friends, properties and livelihoods, and are housed in the relief camps.