Thiruvananthapuram. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that not a single member of 17 families living in the areas affected by the massive landslides following heavy rains in Wayanad last month survived. 119 people are still missing in the landslide-affected areas and DNA samples of their 91 relatives have been collected and sent for testing.
Vijayan said on Tuesday that steps are being taken for the rehabilitation of the landslide victims in Wayanad district and under this, the banks have decided to refund the monthly installments deducted from the accounts of the victims after July 30 and reschedule their existing loans. Vijayan said that the banks will also place a suggestion before their board of directors to completely waive off the loans taken by the landslide affected people.
The Chief Minister said in a press conference that these decisions were taken in the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) meeting held here on Monday. Vijayan said that no member of 17 families living in the disaster affected areas survived. Due to massive landslides in Mundakkai and Choorlamala areas of Wayanad on July 30, more than 200 people were killed and many were injured in both the areas.
Vijayan said that in the SLBC meeting, it was decided to refund the monthly installments deducted from the people living in the disaster affected areas after July 30 to their bank accounts. This decision was taken to provide financial assistance to those who had to repay various loans despite the disaster.
The Chief Minister said that it was also decided that the existing loans taken for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes would be rescheduled as soon as possible, loans up to Rs 25,000 would be made available for immediate relief, which can be repaid in 30 months and all recovery processes in the disaster affected areas would be suspended for the time being.
He said that apart from this, it was also decided that the financial assistance provided to the affected people will not be converted into repayment of their existing financial obligations and the orders under the National Automated Clearing House related to the bank accounts of the people of the disaster affected areas will be reviewed so that there is no financial pressure on them. Apart from this, SLBC asked the banks to ease the terms of new loans and take necessary steps to provide quick loans to the people affected by the disaster.
The Chief Minister said, “The support of banks in Kerala is necessary to bring back those unfortunate people to the mainstream who have lost their livelihood and are struggling to survive.” Vijayan on Monday expressed strong displeasure on behalf of the government over the deduction of monthly installments of loans by banks from the accounts of landslide victims in Wayanad and demanded that these loans be waived off completely. Steps have also been taken to arrange housing for the rehabilitation of the landslide affected people and provide compensation of Rs 6 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in the disaster.