THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said that the cost estimate in the State government’s memorandum to the Union government on Wayanad landslide was prepared to obtain maximum assistance and not on “inflated accounts.”

He harshly criticised the Opposition and media for misinterpreting the estimate and thereby defaming the people and government.

The state government is yet to receive any assistance from the centre, he added.

Addressing media persons on Saturday, the CM said the memorandum was prepared by trained professionals as per the SDRF norms.

“The SDRF has ‘narrow conditions’ and so the government could claim only Rs 219 crore whereas the estimated actual losses at the time of estimate preparation was over Rs 1200 crore. As per the view of experts, reconstruction of the disaster-affected area would cost at least Rs 2200 crore. State government officers had consulted with the Union government team which visited the state on August 9. The memorandum was prepared as per their advice and was submitted on August 17. The State Disaster Management Authority relied on data until August 14 for estimate preparation,” he added.

“The Union government has issued guidelines on the spending from SDRF. The money can be spent in two ways — either through the pre-fixed unit cost or as actual expenses. The maximum compensation from SDRF for loss of housing is Rs 1.3 lakh, Rs one lakh for one km road construction and Rs 2 lakh for constructing a school. These amounts are quite insufficient. The State government provides Rs 4 lakh for housing wherein the balance amount is met from the Chief Minister’s Distress relief Fund. As per the SDRF norms only a paltry sum can be claimed that too and as per the State’s experience, it will not be sanctioned in time,” he said.

“The State government prepared the memorandum as per the laid-out conditions. The malicious campaign against the memorandum can only be viewed as an attack against the disaster victims. Expenses under certain heads can be reimbursed in full as per the SDRF norms. They include rescue operations, camp management, removal of debris, drinking water distribution etc. These expenses are to be sanctioned from the SDRF as such. Those who misinterpreted the memorandum claimed that the actuals in the memorandum were about the money spent already,” he also said.