Wayanad landslides: Banks have taken steps to financially help survivors, says Kerala CM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that steps to rehabilitate survivors of the landslides in Wayanad district were progressing and as part of it, banks have decided to refund EMIs deducted from victims' accounts after July 30 and restructure their existing loans.

Vijayan said on Tuesday that the banks will also present to their boards the suggestion to completely waive the loans taken by those affected by the landslides.

These decisions were taken at a State-Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) meeting held here on Monday, the CM said at a press conference here.

He said that in the meeting, it was decided to refund the EMIs collected after July 30 from those in the disaster-hit areas to their respective bank accounts.

The decision was taken to provide financial support to those who had to make various repayments even after the calamity.

In the meeting, it was also decided to restructure all existing loans taken for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes as soon as possible, provide unsecured consumption loans of up to Rs 25,000 for immediate relief that can be repaid in 30 months and suspend all the recovery procedures in the disaster-hit areas for the time being, the CM said.

Besides that, it was also decided that financial assistance provided to the affected persons shall not be converted into repayment of their existing financial obligations and review the National Automated Clearing House mandates related to bank accounts of people from disaster-hit areas to avoid financial stress on them, he said.

Additionally, the SLBC also asked banks to take necessary steps to ease the terms of new loans and provide them quickly to those affected by the disaster.

"The support of banks in Kerala is essential to bring back to the mainstream the unfortunate people who have lost their means of living and are struggling for survival," the CM said.

Vjiayan had on Monday expressed the government's strong displeasure over banks deducting monthly installments of loans from the accounts of landslide victims and survivors in Wayanad, and demanded that these loans be written off completely.

The other rehabilitation measures included arranging and providing accommodation to those who lost their homes in the landslides and providing Rs 6 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of those who died in the disaster.

The CM said that there were no survivors from 17 families who lived in the disaster-hit areas.

Meanwhile, 119 people remain to be found and DNA samples of 91 of their relatives have been collected and sent for testing.

Major landslides hit the Mundakkai and Chooralmala regions of Wayanad on July 30, almost decimating both areas and killing over 200 people and injuring many.