Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah on Wednesday criticised the Kerala government for allegedly failing to act on early warnings issued by the Centre regarding the recent landslides in Wayanad, which resulted in over 150 fatalities.

Shah said the Centre had issued early warnings to the Kerala government on July 23, 24 and 25 about potential landslides, but the state government did not take sufficient action to relocate people from vulnerable areas.

Speaking in Parliament, Shah asserted, “The Kerala government should have acted on the Centre’s early warnings and evacuated the residents from high-risk areas. Had they taken timely action, many lives could have been saved.”

He also said that the Centre acting on an early warning on potential threat of landslides had promptly sent nine teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to Kerala to manage the crisis on his direction.

Shah highlighted that India’s early warning system, established in 2016 and updated to its most advanced version by 2023, is among the best globally, capable of providing up to seven days of advance notice for natural disasters. He defended the Centre’s role and its commitment to disaster management, pointing out that other states like Odisha and Gujarat had effectively utilized the early warning system and prevented loss of lives.

The Home Minister noted that Odisha, under BJD rule at that time, had successfully averted major losses during a tsunami by acting on early warnings. Similarly, the Gujarat government managed to prevent any casualties during a recent tsunami through prompt action based on advance alerts shared by the Centre.

Shah responded to Opposition members’ queries about the effectiveness of the government’s early warning systems, underscoring the importance of state governments’ responsiveness in disaster management. He asserted that the Modi government stands with the people of Wayanad amid this tragic incident and is taking all steps to support the post-landslide rescue operations.

Pinarayi Vijayan denies claim

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday refuted Union Home Minister Amit Shah's claim that the state government was warned as early as July 23 regarding a possible natural calamity in Wayanad due to heavy rains.

Vijayan said that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had only issued an orange alert in the district ahead of the landslides.

However, the district received over 500 millimeters of rainfall, which was extremely higher than what was predicted by the IMD.

"A red alert was issued for the district only after the landslides hit there on Tuesday morning," Vijayan said at a press conference here.

The CM also said that this was not the time for "blame game" and that he was not taking Shah's remarks in an adversarial manner.