Even as Kerala is trying to gauge the magnitude of the losses it suffered nearly a week after the unprecedented floods and landslides unleashed a trail of destruction in the state killing 360 people, a bitter war of words has begun between the opposition and the government over the causes that led to this calamity of this nature. While the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have chosen to hold Pinarayi Vijayan government responsible for the disaster, the chief minister is taking refuge by citing extraordinary heavy rains and blaming the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) for the allegedly delayed forecast.
The Opposition grilled him during the special session of the state Assembly on 30 August for the government’s failure in not opening the dams before water reaching the brim.