NEW DELHI, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The Indian federal government Wednesday said that based on the country's early warning system it had alerted the southern Kerala state about potential weather vagaries and possible deaths seven days in advance.

The remarks were made by India's federal home minister Amit Shah in the upper house of the Indian parliament, locally called Rajya Sabha.

"On July 23, the government of India gave an early warning to the local government of Kerala, which was seven days before the incident," Shah said. "Then on July 24 and 25 too early warning was given. On July 26, a warning was given that there was a chance of heavy rainfall of more than 20 cm, and there were chances of landslides, there could be mudflow and people could lose lives after getting caught in this."

He criticized the Kerala state government for ignoring the early warnings and not responding to the arrival of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams.

"Nine NDRF teams were sent in Kerala in advance on July 23. The Kerala government did not evacuate people in time," Shah said.

On Tuesday multiple landslides hit Kerala's Wayanad district causing severe losses of life and property. So far 165 people have been declared dead in the landslides.

Officials said the death toll is likely to rise as over 100 people are still missing and several more bodies are reported to be lying buried beneath the debris.

According to India's official broadcaster All India Radio, 186 persons are undergoing treatment in various hospitals and 3,000 people are in relief camps in Wayanad alone.

Joint rescue operations by the armed forces, NDRF teams and state forces are underway in the area and over 1,000 people have been rescued so far. Enditem

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