Rahul Gandhi visits flood-affected areas in Wayanad, seeks Centre's immediate help

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday visited Mepaddi and Puthumala areas to take stock of flood situation in his parliamentary constituency of Wayanad.

He later met District Collector AR Ajayakumar and discussed the situations arising out of floods and landslide, which hit the normal life like anything.

Gandhi asked the District Collector to expedite efforts to recover the bodies of those missing in the landslide in Puthumala.

"There is an issue where the landslide took place. Efforts are on to find out some people who are missing. We have told the administration to expedite efforts in this regard," he said.

The Congress leader also said that he has apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the flood situation and sought the Centre's support to deal with the situations.

"There is a need for immediate support for the people who have been hit hard by landslide and floods. There is a need for compensation. They need to be rehabilitated," he said.

"We also discussed the conditions at the (relief) camps. Some issues arose particularly compensation. We have committed that the people who lost family members and houses will get compensation as soon as possible," he said.

The Congress leader termed the flood situation in Kerala and other parts of southern states as a "tragedy".

He said: "It is a tragedy not only for Wayanad but also for Kerala and other southern states. I think the Central government needs to pay attention and aggressively support the people of these states."

"There is a disaster and we are working together. I don't want to blame anyone. All political parties are working together," he added.

As many as 76 people have lost their lives in the flood-ravaged state so far.