80 Mumbai doctors reach Kerala for relief operations

Many support groups in Mumbai have provided relief material, including food packets, stationery and funds, to the affected victims.
Shebin Samuel, parish secretary of St Thomas Marthoma Syrian Church in Santacruz, said: “We are helping them with non-perishable items, including bedsheets, clothes and food packets. We have also collected funds worth Rs 5 lakh for the victims. Around 20 of our sister churches in and around Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai are contributing.”

While the churches are negotiating with airlines to send their relief materials, they have planned to cancel Onam celebrations on August 25 and use the money set aside for the purpose for relief operations. Air India subsidiary Alliance Air on Monday operated several flights connecting Kochi to other cities, including Bengaluru and Coimbatore, from the Kochi naval base. An official statement from the civil aviation ministry said that Alliance Air will operate a 70-seater aircraft on these routes. Indigo and Vistara, too, operated additional flights to transport passengers stranded in Kerala.

IndiGo said in a statement that it would continue to operate eight round-trip relief flights from Kozhikode, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Thiruvanthapuram — in addition to the three daily relief flights (round trip) — from Kochi naval base from August 21 to August 26. It will also provide cancellation and rescheduling waiver to passengers travelling to and from Kochi till August 31 for bookings made before August 20.