Wayanad landslide: The Kerala government has withdrawn the controversial gag order against scientific community in the state. The gag order had asked the scientists to refrain from expressing their opinions about the landslide publicly following the landslide in Wayanad. The withdrawal of the order comes after an outrage.
The now withdrawn order, was issued on Thursday (August 1), restrained scientists from conducting studies or expressing their opinions about Wayanad landslides publicly or with media.
After an outcry however, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan directed their administration to withdraw the order.
On Friday, Kerala Chief Secretary V Venu issued clarification about the previous order and said that the objective of the gag order was to discourage statements which could be misinterpreted.
"This advisory was not issued with an intent to restrain the scientific community of the state from conducting studies and providing insights. The objective was to discourage statements and opinions by persons belonging to scientific institutions of the state, that may be misinterpreted or misquoted to create panic and confusion among the public, particularly during this sensitive time," said the chief secretary in FB post.
Kerala landslides: Latest situation
The state government on Friday confirmed 308 deaths. State's Health Minister Veena George said that 195 bodies and 113 body parts had been recovered.
On Friday, the rescue operation continued. The army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) along with the civil administration are co-ordinating the rescue effort.
On Thursday, CM Vijayan chaired a high-level meeting to take stock of the situation. The chief minister said that rescuing people is the topmost priority and that rehabilitation will be done at the earliest.
