New Delhi [India], August 27 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi and discussed the rehabilitation of Wayanad in the meeting, as per an official release from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
The state government had submitted an additional, detailed memorandum also which was requested by the Centre.
Earlier, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan had on on August 17 said that the root cause of the Wayanad landslide disaster is climate change. “The root cause of the Wayanad disaster is climate change. The agricultural sector is one of the most directly impacted by this phenomenon. At this stage, our primary focus should be on discussing the impact of climate change on agriculture and the measures needed to overcome these challenges,” Vijayan said after inaugurating the Farmers’ Day celebrations.
He said that experts estimate that due to climate change, rain-dependent rice yields in our country could decrease by 20 per cent by 2050 and by 47 per cent by 2080.”Similarly, wheat yields could decrease by 19.3 percent by 2050 and by 40 percent by 2080. These are serious concerns that require immediate and sustained attention,” he added.
The landslides that killed hundreds of people in Kerala’s Wayanad were triggered by a burst of rainfall that was made about 10 per cent heavier by human-caused climate change, a study has found.
The study by World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international group of researchers, found that the excessive rainfall in the early hours of July 30 that triggered the landslides was a “once in a-50-year event”. The study highlights the need for rigorous assessments of landslide risk and improved early warning in hillside regions of northern Kerala to prevent repeat landslide disasters.
The study was conducted by 24 researchers as part of the World Weather Attribution group, including scientists from universities and meteorological agencies in India, Malaysia, the United States, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.