Man-made tragedy? Leader of opposition demands judicial inquiry into Kerala floods

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Thiruvananthapuram: While Kerala is trying to rebuild itself following devastating floods, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Friday demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter.

Calling it a man-made tragedy, he said, "We are reiterating that this a man-made tragedy and are requesting for a judicial inquiry to go into details so that such a human tragedy does not occur in future."

Kerala has been witnessing its worst floods in a century. The deadly monsoon rains savaged the state with heavy rains and severe floods. The rains and floods have claimed 231 lives since August 8 in the second spell of the monsoon.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, earlier in the day, said that he will approach Malayalis across the world while the ministers will visit foreign countries to collect funds from them. A high-level committee will be appointed to rebuild Pamba town and to complete work in Sabarimala temple before the start of pilgrimage season, he added.

The contribution to Kerala Chief Minister's Distress Fund has, meanwhile, reached Rs 1027 crore. The Kerala assembly on Thursday adopted a unanimous resolution seeking more funds from the Centre to rebuild the state battered by torrential rains which claimed 483 lives since the onset of the southwest monsoon on May 28.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister of almost all states have been offering funds to Kerala so that it can combat the devastation. The rains had affected over 55 lakh people and left a trail of destruction.

With life limping to normalcy, cleaning operations continued in several parts of the state, including worst-hit Kuttanad and Wayanad. More than 60,000 volunteers are engaged in the operations.