Kozhikode: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has announced a compensation of Rs 6 lakh for the next of kin of those who died in the landslides that hit Wayanad last month.
Vijayan said that Rs 4 lakh will be provided from the State Disaster Relief Fund and remaining Rs 2 lakh from the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF). He said that the compensation amount can be claimed by proving that he/she was fully dependent on the deceased. However, the spouse or children would get the compensation automatically without submitting a legal heir certificate, he said.
The CM said Rs 75,000 will be provided to people who suffered 60 percent disabilities while those between 40 to 60 percent disability will receive Rs 50,000. Compensation has been sanctioned for the injured under the CMDRF, he said.
Also, families of those who went missing will be eligible for compensation. The police wing is preparing a list of missing persons and it will be published soon. He said that the missing figure stands at 118.
The CM also announced Rs 6,000 per month for people seeking rental accommodation. Vijayan said the government aims to provide free accommodation for all the landslide-hit victims.
He said that no fee would be charged for providing duplicate/revised documents from educational institutions, local self-government bodies, boards, corporations, commissions and directorates to those who have lost their documents during the disaster.
Vijayan further said that 118 people are yet to be identified through DNA testing. The decision regarding rehabilitation in the disaster-affected regions will be taken on the basis of a comprehensive report of the expert team. The land use patterns will be decided based on the report of the group, he added.
Meanwhile, the DNA tests of 401 bodies and body parts recovered from the landslide-hit areas in Wayanad have been completed. Out of which, 349 body parts belonging to 248 individuals, including 121 men and 127 women, have been identified.
A total of 437 body parts have been recovered so far from the landslide-hit areas of which, authorities have completed DNA tests of 401 body parts. The remaining body parts are yet to be identified.
Some of the body parts were badly decomposed as a result of which, the DNA test results may get further delayed. The next step involves matching the DNA samples with those of the relatives of the deceased. For this purpose, 119 blood samples have already been collected.
Once the matching is completed, there will be clarity on the number of deceased individuals along with their identities. The government has confirmed 231 deaths while 128 people are still missing.
The DNA test results play a crucial role during natural disasters as it helps in identifying the deceased and updating the list of missing persons.
The administration's priority is to relocate disaster-hit victims to rented houses and efforts are on to find appropriate accommodations for these people. The legal issues surrounding the rightful ownership of property belonging to the deceased and missing will also be resolved soon, officials said.
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