Wayanad landslide: Kerala CM, wife donate Rs 1.33 lakh to relief fund

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his wife T.K. Kamala have donated Rs 1 lakh and Rs 33,000 respectively to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) in the wake of the landslide tragedy in Wayanad district. 

While all the state ministers have decided to donate one month's salary, the CPI, a major ally of the ruling LDF government has also decided that all its elected members to the assembly as well as Parliament will donate their one month's salary.

Amidst online smear campaigns discouraging people from sending funds to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF), donations poured in from various quarters, with celebrities and institutions offering lakhs of rupees and some even pledging to construct houses for those who lost everything in the devastating landslides.

The Kerala police also launched an investigation into an alleged social media campaign against Pinarayi Vijayan's Facebook post requesting help for the people affected by the landslides in Wayanad district. The campaign was aimed at motivating people to reject the CM's appeal for disaster relief, it said. Tamil actors, including Kamal Haasan, Surya, Vikram, Karthi and Jyothika, donated to the CMDRF.

Malayalam stars Mammootty, his son Dulquer Salman, Fahad Faasil, and Nazriya, among others, also donated to the relief fund for Wayanad.
While Haasan donated Rs 25 lakh, Jyothika, Surya, and Karthi together donated Rs 50 lakh.

Mammootty donated Rs 20 lakh and Dulquer gave Rs 15 lakh. Fahad and Nazriya donated Rs 25 lakh.

Noted film maker Anand Patwardhan on Thursday donated Rs 2,20,000 which he bagged as prize money in the recently concluded 16th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK).