

Thiruvananthapuram | Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday alleged that the work pace of the Wayanad township project, to rehabilitate victims of the Chooralmala-Mundakkai landslides, has slowed down significantly under the current UDF government.
Vijayan made the allegation in a Facebook post while paying tribute to the victims of the landslides on the second anniversary of the disaster.
He claimed that the previous LDF government took the township project forward at a rapid pace and before it had stepped down from power, concreting of 308 out of the 410 houses in the township had been completed and homes were handed over to 178 families.
"However, with the UDF government coming to power, the pace of the rehabilitation work has slowed down significantly," the opposition leader claimed in his post.
He contended that even after 70 days of coming to power, concreting of only nine houses had been completed.
He alleged that one reason for the slow pace was the "unnecessary transfers" of officials with critical responsibilities.
Vijayan said that 149 families were still waiting for their own homes and they cannot be made to wait any longer.
"The government should take urgent steps to complete the township construction on a war footing and ensure safe homes for all disaster victims as soon as possible," he said.
The landslides that struck the Mundakkai and Chooralmala region in the early hours of July 30, 2024, claimed 298 lives, flattened entire settlements and washed away homes.