Amid the blame game between the Centre and the Kerala government over the devastating landslides in Wayanad, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said on Thursday the agency had issued regular rainfall warnings for Kerala.
Mohapatra’s comments came after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan dismissed Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s claim that the state had been given early warning about a possible natural calamity in Wayanad, and said the IMD had only issued an orange alert in Wayanad.
“An orange warning means be prepared for action and one should not wait for red warnings,” Mohapatra said.
Nearly 300 people lost their lives while scores of others are still missing after two major landslides triggered by torrential rains left a trail of destruction in Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala and Noolpuzha villages of the hilly district in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Hundreds of houses were completely damaged in the disaster—one of the worst in Kerala’s recent history.
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While speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Shah said the Centre had given an early warning to Kerala about the possible mishap and had sent eight teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to assist the state government in any eventuality of a disaster.
Shah alleged that the Kerala government did not heed to the warning issued seven days ahead of the July 30 landslides.
However, addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, CM Vijayan dismissed Shah’s claims and said the IMD had only issued an orange alert in Wayanad ahead of the landslides.
The chief minister said that the area received 200 mm of rain in the first 24 hours and 372 mm in the next 24 hours, totaling 572 mm in 48 hours. This far exceeded the initial warning, he added.
On Thursday, while addressing an online press briefing, Mohapatra said the weather department had issued an extended range forecast for significant rainfall activity along the west coast of India on July 18 and July 25.
"The long-range forecast issued on July 25 indicated good rainfall activity along the west coast and central parts of the country from July 25 to August 1. We issued a yellow warning on July 25, which continued until July 29, when we issued an orange warning. A red warning was issued in the early morning of July 30, indicating that very heavy rainfall, up to 20 cm, was expected," he said.
Mohapatra further added that Kerala had been witnessing continuous rainfall activity and "accumulation of rainfall" is also an important factor behind landslides.
