Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said the state government would construct a township in a safe place for the rehabilitation of the disaster victims in Wayanad.

Speaking to media persons in Thiruvananthapuram, Pinarayi Vijayan said that a new safer area would be identified for constructing a township for the comprehensive rehabilitation of the victims of the devastating landslides that hit at Chooralmala and Mundakkai areas in Wayanad.

“The government plans to rehabilitate the victims in a comprehensive way. Good planning and labour are needed for completing that task in a speedy way. A large populated area completely disappeared there. Discussions have begun at the administrative level to build a safer new township at a new place.,” CM Vijayan said.

He said that the government would complete this rehabilitation work in an exemplary way by using all its resources. The government would also prepare a very detailed rehabilitation plan soon, the CM added.

Pinarayi Vijayan urged the weather agencies to make the weather prediction more specific and accurate. He said that the weather prediction models should be made more contemporary, location-specific, and accurate so that disaster mitigation measures can kick in early to save lives.

“Majority of these tragedies are happening due to high intense rains which the warning agencies are unable to warn in advance. Currently, the experts are relying on global databases and parameters to predict the quantity of the rainfall. But what’s happening is that high intense rains occur”, he said.

The CM said that donations to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) could be made online. He further informed that the QR code system for UPI transactions to the CMDRF has been withdrawn to prevent fraudulent activities.

He added that the government has also decided to give special charge to the officials at the Finance department under the Finance Secretary to handle the CMDRF fund.

Meanwhile, Congress Working Committee member Ramesh Chennithala ‘s decision to donate his one month’s MLA salary to Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund(CMDRF) has opened a fresh battle ground between KPCC chief K Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan. K Sudhakaran’s remark that Chennithala should not have contributed his salary to the left government’s relief fund, has come under flak from VD Satheesan.

Rejecting the KPCC president K Sudhakaran’s statement against donating to CMDRF, Satheesan asked everyone to contribute to the CMDRF , stating that this is not the time to play politics.

“There is nothing wrong in paying money to the CMDRF. Sudhakaran should not have blamed Chennithala for his decision to contribute his MLA salary to the CMDRF. It’s not the time to play politics,” Satheesan told media persons in Kozhikode.

After visiting the landslide-hit regions in Wayanad on Friday, Ramesh Chennithala announced his decision to donate his one month’s MLA salary to the CMDRF. Responding to this, K Sudhakaran said that Chennithala should not have contributed his salary to the left government’s relief fund .K Sudhakaran on Saturday said Chennithala should have donated the amount to the party’s own relief mechanism.

“The Congress party has its own forum to procure funds. All the allied organisations of the party have kicked off fundraising. Chennithala should have donated his salary to that option. It was not right on his part to donate to the CMDRF,” said Sudhakaran.