Kerala government refuted on Wednesday Union home minister

Amit Shah

‘s statement in Parliament that central agencies had issued advance

extreme weather warnings

for

Wayanad

, where

rain-triggered landslides

early Tuesday killed more than 160 people.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Shah’s remarks were “inconsistent with the facts”. The area where the disaster hit, only an

orange alert

was in place, with the

India Meteorological Department

(IMD) warning of rainfall between 115mm and 204mm, he said.

“However, the area received 200mm rain in the first 24 hours and 372mm in the next 24, totalling 572mm in 48 hours. This far exceeded the initial warning. The area had never been on

red alert

before the disaster,” Vijayan said.
Between July 23 and 28, IMD didn’t issue any orange alerts for heavy rain in the state, said Vijayan.