The Kerala Assembly on Thursday took a pledge to face the challenges posed by the unprecedented floods that killed 483 people and wreaked unimaginable havoc and to work for the creation of a New Kerala in total unity.

"We can regain everything that we have lost if we stand together. We are not a people shattered by disaster. We are capable of marching ahead by overcoming it. We can write a new chapter of survival if we stand together," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in his introductory speech at the special one-day session of the Assembly heldon Thursday to discuss the deluge.

"The Opposition will be in the forefront of the efforts to face the disaster that had hit Kerala. It has given total support to the Government in the rescue and relief works so far and this cooperation will continue," said Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. The House unanimously passed a motion calling for facing the State's post-flood challenges in unity.

However, the special one-day session which lasted nine hours instead of the scheduled five hours witnessed serious and furious arguments between the Government and the Opposition over what steps the State administration had taken to meet the emergency, what intensified the grimness of the situation and how efficient and effective the disaster management so far was.

While the Government claimed that incessant and extremely heavy rainfall of which there was no adequate forecast was the cause of the unprecedented flooding, the Opposition stuck to its charge that it was not entirely a natural calamity but the gravity of the disaster was enhanced due to callous management of dams.

"The unprecedented floods were caused by extremely heavy rainfall. The IMD had forecast only heavy rains and not extremely heavy rainfall. This inadequacy in the warning had caused some problems in the State. The IMD had forecast an estimated 98.5MM of rainfall between August 9 and 15 but the actual rainfall received was 352.2 MM," the Chief Minister said.

Pinarayi said that 483 human lives had been lost in the disaster, 14 had gone missing and 140 were hospitalized. Over 1.4 million people from nearly four lakh families had to move to relief camps following the deluge which hit the State's economy badly with losses amounting to more than the annual plan outlay for the year which stood at 37,248 crore.

Arguing that not all the deaths were caused by flooding and that the State had witnessed hundreds of landslides in the 12 days from August 9 causing scores of deaths, he claimed that the Government had carried out rescue operations efficiently by calling in all available resources and manpower including those from the Defence wings, police, other forces and even fishermen.

"It is the State which had caused floods in many parts by opening shutters of several dams simultaneously. The Opposition is not against dams. But we are speaking about the faults and lapses in their management. The Government should explain whether the shutters of all these dams were opened after taking required precautions," the Opposition leader said.

Speaker after speaker from the Opposition slammed the alleged mismanagement of dams which, according to them, was the main reason for the destruction in most parts of the State. lack of coordination among various departments, especially between Power and Water Resources, contributed heavily to the disaster, they said.

"It is not a natural calamity. It is a man-made disaster. Who is responsible for the opening of the shutters of so many dams at the same time when incessant rainfall was pounding the Stateij" asked VD Satheesan of the Congress, MlA from Paravur, the region which had borne the worst brunt of flooding caused by the waters from Idamalayar and Idukki reservoirs.

"History will judge this as a disaster caused by criminal callousness and lack of planning," he said. Criticizing the Government's claim about efficiency of the rescue operation, he said, "Nobody should hope to steal the credit for the rescue operation carried out by the Defence forces, police, fishermen, social workers and the general public," he added.