Amid rehabilitation project delay, calendar on Priyankas Wayanad visits sparks row
KALPETTA: Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi came in for sharp criticism on social media after she released a New Year calendar featuring photographs of her visits to the district, with critics arguing that the gesture was insensitive as the Congress failed to build the houses the party had promised to families affected by the Chooralmala-Mundakkai landslide even 16 months after the disaster. One comment under a critical post by a CPM cyber page Red Beats read: Our dear MP Priyanka Gandhi set an example by giving calendars to the homeless in Wayanad. Next she will distribute wrist watches to people without hands. The criticism intensified after a video released by the MPs office showed KPCC working president A P Anil Kumar, MLA, releasing the calendar. Left-affiliated cyber groups spearheaded the online attack, targeting the Congress party over the delay in implementing the Chooralmala-Mundakkai landslide rehabilitation project. Although Kalpetta MLA T Siddique had announced before the local body elections that the Congress had paid an advance to acquire land for the project, the land registration process is yet to be completed. At a press meet in Kalpetta on December 3, Siddique acknowledged the delay, attributing it to difficulties in identifying legally dispute-free land. There was some delay for the Congress party on the project as we were searching for a property without legal issues. Now the location has been identified and the advance has been paid. The design and construction plans are in the final stages. We are planning to build 100 houses, he said. Siddique also stated that the District Congress Committee (DCC) would soon release details of the property. However, no further clarification has since been issued by Congress leaders. When contacted, Wayanad DCC president T J Issac told the TNIE that the registration process was under way. We will soon complete the registration of the property identified in Kalpetta. We are expecting to sign the documents in the coming days. The party leadership has prepared a preliminary list of beneficiaries, which will be released shortly, he said. Meanwhile, questions are being raised over the lack of transparency surrounding the Stand With Wayanad - INC mobile application launched to collect distress relief funds after the disaster. The application is currently inactive and no official details regarding the amount collected or its utilisation have been made public. None of the Congress sources are ready to comment on the matter. In contrast, construction under the state governments rehabilitation project is progressing rapidly. The Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), which is executing the project, is aiming to complete 301 houses by January. Roof slab concreting has been completed for around 190 houses, and work is on round the clock. Plastering is also progressing swiftly. Laying of roads, power supply, and drainage work are expected to be completed by January. Our primary objective is to ensure basic facilities at the site. Construction of the remaining houses and other community facilities will be taken up in the next phase, said a KIIFB official overseeing the project.
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