During a debate in Parliament about the recent landslides in Wayanad, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said he will introduce a new disaster management Bill soon. He asked all state governments to follow the disaster management schemes set up since 2014 and promised to explain more about the Bill later.
A Congress member, K C Venugopal, talked about the need for both immediate help for rescue and long-term plans to prevent future tragedies. He also questioned the state government about an early warning given on June 23 and mentioned that political issues should be avoided after rescue efforts.
Rahul Gandhi called the landslides a major disaster and praised the military's efforts. He suggested using advanced technology to address the ecological issues in the area.
K Francis George from Kerala pointed out a UN report predicting future natural disasters in the state and asked what the central government was doing to address this.
BJP member Tejasvi Surya claimed that illegal encroachments in disaster-prone areas were not removed due to pressure from religious groups. This led to a heated exchange with Rahul Gandhi and calls for Surya to apologize.
Speaker Om Birla noted that any inappropriate remarks would be removed from the records after discussions.