An elderly woman gets rescued by Indian Army in Paravur, Cochin on Monday. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran, 20th August 2018, Cochin.)
The Indian Railway has restored all the tracks affected with heavy flash floods, landslips, boulder falling on track etc in divisions of Southern Railway, a PIB press release stated. In another development, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced Tuesday the UAE has offered Rs 700 crore towards Kerala flood relief.
Meanwhile, the state cabinet has suggested Governor P Sathasivam hold a special assembly session on August 30 to discuss post-flood discussion over relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction of Kerala. Earlier today, the state government scheduled for an all-party meeting at 4 pm Tuesday.
Opening doors in support for Kerala, the Centre has declared the floods in the state as a calamity of “severe nature”, paving the way for national assistance in various forms, officials said. The central government has also scaled up the relief and rescue operations. More than 43,000 persons have been rescued so far, out of which around 600 people were rescued on Monday. And 12.47 lakh people are lodged in relief camps.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday declared that the first phase of the rescue mission had reached its finality and the next phase would focus on intensifying relief and rehabilitation.
A step-by-step guide on how you can donate to the Kerala CM’s relief fund
Over 200 people have reportedly been killed in the floods and thousands have been displaced in Kerala. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has pegged the loses incurred by the state at Rs 19,512 crore so far. A special assembly session will be held on August 30 to discuss relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction, Vijayan said. India will have to turn down UAE's offer for the flood relief contribution of Rs 700 crore due to a policy made in 2014.
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CPM workers have collected Rs 16, 43,73,940 through a public donation drive from 10 districts over last two days. Kannur topped with nearly Rs 6.39 crores followed by Trivandrum with 2.25 crores. The money will be pooled into the CMDRF.
Kerala sought a Rs 2,600 crore special package from the Centre even as the state struggled to find its feet after the devastating deluge that left 231 dead in a fortnight and displaced over 14 lakh people. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan chaired a meeting of the state cabinet, which decided to seek the special package under the centrally-sponsored schemes, including the flagship rural employment programme MNREGS.
As the cabinet took stock of the havoc caused by the unprecedented floods in a century, the Centre released Rs 600 crore to Kerala and decided to waive customs duty and GST on the relief materials being imported for the affected people. The central assistance of Rs 500 crore as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rs 100 crore by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had been released today, an official spokesperson said in New Delhi. (PTI)
The India Air Force has so far rescued 663 people in flood-battered Kerala and airlifted 974 tonnes of relief material, it said in a statement. Transport aircraft from all corners of the country have been flying day and night to ensure relief material is available in relief camps, it said.
"Women, children, elderly people and residents were winched from the rooftops of submerged houses to safety by IAF helicopters. Till date, IAF has rescued 663 people. IAF helicopters have also dropped food and water packets to the stranded people in the affected areas," the statement read.
It has airlifted 974 tonnes of relief material. Medical teams from the Southern Air Command and the Training Command have been deployed at various places to provide medical assistance, it said. (PTI)
To ensure hassle-free delivery of relief materials to flood-ravaged Kerala, Cochin Port, one of the top 12 major ports in the country, has earmarked two berths for priority berthing of vessels carrying such items, the government said. Naval Ship INS Deepak from Mumbai has brought in about 800 tonnes of fresh water and 18 tonnes of provisions to Cochin.
"In the calamity-hit state of Kerala, the Ministry of Shipping has taken the initiative to reach relief material from various parts of the country to Cochin Port through coastal shipping," the Ministry of Shipping said in a statement.
The Cochin Port Trust has earmarked two berths at Mattancherry and Ernakulam wharfs for priority berthing of vessels bringing flood relief materials to Kerala, it said adding, two warehouses have been especially earmarked for storage of relief materials and medicines. (PTI)
Over 24,000 people have been evacuated till now from the flood affected regions of Kerala till now even as 41 NDRF teams are still undertaking relief and rescue operations in the state, a force spokesperson said. Flood waters were receding in most of the affected areas and there are no alerts for heavy rainfall for the next few days.
"The force has rescued 535 people and evacuated 24,616 marooned people to safer places. 119 animals were also evacuated and pre-hospital treatment was provided to 4,908 people till now," he said.
At least 41 teams of the federal disaster contingency force are still deployed in Kerala to assist the state administration in rescue, relief and rehabilitation work and to respond in case of any eventuality, the spokesperson said. A National Disaster Response Force team has about 35-40 personnel. (PTI)
Central assistance of Rs.500 crore, as announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Rs.100 crore, announced by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, for flood-affected Kerala has been released to the Kerala government on Tuesday.
The National Crisis Management Committee met for the sixth time in a row today to review the rescue and relief operations in the state. Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha, chaired the meeting. The Chief Secretary of Kerala participated in the meeting via video conference and informed that the situation is now improving by and large though there are some isolated pockets still with water. Water levels are receding fast.
The Department of Food and Public Distribution has made additional allocation of 89,540 MT of rice as per the state government’s request.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has thanked UAE for providing an assistance of Rs 700 crore towards relief and aid operations in flood-affected Kerala. He expressed his gratitude to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and the Emir of Abu Dhabi, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of UAE and Emir of Dubai.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal today appealed to the Indian Railway's 13 lakh employees across 16 zones to voluntarily donate a day's salary for the flood relief operations in Kerala. Goyal said he was confident of a positive response from the employees as their contribution will help bring relief to the thousands rendered homeless in the state.
"Employees of southern railways have already contributed Rs 65 lakh to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund without us even asking them to do so. We will send out the notice today," the minister told reporters.
The Indian Railway has restored all the tracks affected with heavy flash floods, land slips, boulder falling on track etc in divisions of Southern Railway, a PIB press release stated. The affected divisions were of Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad and Madurai.
Almost all the train services, except for few for want of pairing rakes, are restored from today, the statement said.
The Malayalam year 1099 (ME), or what was 1924 in the Gregorian calendar, is often considered to be a landmark moment in Kerala’s history. That year the much endeared season of rains in the state transformed into a disaster of monstrous dimensions. The current state of deluge in Kerala is reminiscent of that monsoon, almost a century back, when ‘God’s own country’ transformed into a calamity zone. Read more
The CPI today said and the Centre's assistance of Rs 500 crore to flood-battered Kerala was "too little", and Prime Minister Narendra Modi could have been "more generous" towards the state.
CPI General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy said, "We are not satisfied. We think it's too little considering the scale of destruction in Kerala. Initial estimates put the loss at Rs 20,000 crore."
Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare JP Nadda and MoS Health Ashwini Choubey hold a meeting over relief and rescue operations in Kerala.