Wayanad: After his two-day visit to Wayanad in Kerala, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi yesterday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide early warning systems in his Lok Sabha constituency.
In his letter to the PM, Rahul pointed out that if early warning systems are installed and specially designed landslide/flood shelters with communication facilities are provided, many lives could be saved as people in the flood-prone regions will be alerted if there was any natural calamity.
“Developing a long term strategy and an action plan supported through a special package of assistance to protect both the life and livelihood of people and environment in Wayanad to be taken up on priority,” Gandhi wrote in his letter.
Speaking about the situation in the tree southern States- Kerala, Tamilnadu and Karnataka – Rahul blamed forest destruction and inflow into the streams and rivers which in turn endangered farms and populations here.
Noting that the hill region was a fragile part of Western Ghats, he said it is home to 10 per cent of the total biodiversity of India. Agriculture and animal husbandry were the livelihoods of people of Wayanad. Paddy cultivation was declining in the region, he added.
“I would like to highlight the twin crisis one that affects the life and livelihood of people in Wayanad and the second, the critical status of the ecology in an area that is known as a global hotspot for biodiversity with the potential to contribute to carbon sequestration benefiting the country as a whole,” he said in the letter.
Rahul also highlighted farm sector was facing crisis, because of which farmers were committing suicide in large numbers.
He said agriculture and animal husbandry are the mainstays of the people in Wayanad. However, , he added.