Kerala Floods: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was received by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Governor P Sathasivam and Union Tourism Minister KJ Alphons in Kerala on Friday. (Twitter/@PIB_India)
The flood situation in Kerala continues to remain precarious as the death toll from the fresh onslaught of rains since August 8 has climbed to 173. The deadliest deluge in close to a century has dealt a severe blow to the scenic state, wrecking its tourism industry, destroying standing crops in thousands of hectares and inflicting huge damage to infrastructure.
Personnel of the three services, besides the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) resumed the gigantic task of evacuating people stranded on rooftops, highlands where hills came crashing down blocking roads and cutting them off the rest of the world, and those marooned in villages that have turned into islands.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kerala late Friday; he is likely to conduct an aerial survey of the flood-ravaged areas on Saturday. The red alert now remains in 12 out of 14 districts after it was withdrawn from Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod. The Indian Meteorological Department (MeT) on Thursday indicated a slight reduction in rain intensity over Kerala in the next 48 hours. In districts like Kozhikode, the situation is improving, however, central Kerala is still in bad shape.
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On Wednesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had called PM Modi again, seeking more aid considering the situation. He also sought additional Army personnel and helicopters. For the first time in history, the state has opened 35 of its 39 dams. Meanwhile, operations at the Cochin International Airport have been suspended till August 26 due to flooding in and around the airport.
Kerala rains: A view of the Idukki Dam. (PTI Photo)
M V Ramakrishnan, along with two other colleagues from the Keraleeya Kendra Sangathana in Matunga, had landed at Alleppey in Kerala on August 14 with 1,000 relief kits for the flood-affected families in Kuttanad village. While they were supposed to be back in Mumbai the next day, two of them are stuck in the southern state owing to the severe floods. “Last month, a heavy flood had inundated the Kuttanad village in Alleppey and our organisation wanted to provide relief to the residents. So, we brought 1,000 relief kits containing clothes and medicines, including lungis, underwears, sanitary napkins and odomos among other things,” Ramakrishnan told The Indian Express over the phone from Thiruvananthapuram. Read full story.
HOTEL AND airline ticket cancellations have soared amid floods in Kerala. According to travel portal ClearTrip, hotel cancellations have been rising since the August 10. “On an average, hotel cancellations has risen to over 50 per cent. Air bookings have also seen a clear spike in cancellations — around 20 per cent on an average — from August 14 to August 16. Cities from where travelers have been impacted the most are Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune,” said Balu Ramachandran, Head (Air & Distribution), Cleartrip. While the average cancellation of confirmed tickets is 4.4 per cent for train journeys from Mumbai, due to floods, the rate has doubled to 8.31 per cent, especially since August 12, said Sripad Vaidya, co-founder of ConfirmTkt. Read full story.
As Kerala grapples with its worst deluge in years, which has claimed hundreds of lives, most Kerala associations in the city have called off Onam celebrations. This year, Onam began on August 15 and many organisations in the city had organised celebrations in the first week of September for members of the community. An estimated 4 to 4.5 lakh Keralites live in Pune. Madhu Nair, president of the Pune Keraleeya Samajam at Rasta Peth, said, “We had a major celebration scheduled on September 2, for which we have already organised two pre-events in earlier weeks. However, given the situation in Kerala, we no longer wish to hold celebrations and we have cancelled it. Instead, we have pledged to raise at least Rs 5 lakh, which we will donate to the Kerala relief fund”. Read full story.
The Southern Command, which has its headquarters in Pune, is sending more troops to help out those affected by the floods in Kerala. Four teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) battalion in Pune are already deployed in the state. Teams of divers from Special Forces of the Indian Army have also been pressed into search and rescue operations. As per information given by officials from the NDRF Battalion stationed at Talegaon in Pune, four teams of rescuers were airlifted from the city on Wednesday evening and pressed into action in Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Alappuzha, along with other NDRF teams from across the country. Read full report.
Worried about the well-being of their loved ones back home, several families from Kerala living in Pune have been unable to go back to the state and help out, as both flight and train services have been crippled due to the floods caused by heavy rains. While Kochi International Airport will remain closed for operations till August 26, trains to Kerala have been getting delayed and diverted. Road transport in the coastal state has also been hit, thus cutting off practically all transport links to the state. Pune is connected to Kerala through two daily direct flights to Kochi, one operated by SpiceJet and the other by IndiGo. Both airlines have stopped their operations since the last few days. Read full report.
Speaking to reporters, Brigadier Arun C G said, "Around 700 soldiers along with specialised engineering task forces, carrying boats and specialised equipment, are on the ground. They have rescued around 4,800 people in the past nine days. I assure that we'll work day and night till Kerala resumes normalcy."
The Naval airstrip at Kochi, which was used for commercial operations till 2000, has been offered to the Kerala state government for use by civilian airlines on account of the Cochin International Airport remaining closed till August 26 due to unprecedented rains in the region. This was discussed at the Friday meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), which met for the second time in two days here to review the rescue and relief operations in Kerala. Air India is expected to conduct a test flight on Saturday at the airstrip to ensure technical feasibility. The airline will operate the flight on the ATR aircraft through its arm Alliance Air. Read full report.
The Finance ministry has asked public sector general insurance companies and LIC to take immediate action and nominate and nominate a senior nodal officer in Kerala for expediting settlement of all the claims reported in flood-ravaged Kerala. “Nodal officers may be appointed in each affected district to liaise with the district administration,” the Ministry said in a statement. Read full report.
The deadliest deluge in close to a century has claimed 173 lives since August 8, and dealt a severe blow to the scenic state, wrecking its tourism industry, destroying standing crops in thousands of hectares and inflicting huge damage to infrastructure.
Chengannur MLA Saji Cherian broke down in a Malayalam TV studio late on Friday night while narrating the grim situation in his constituency. “Please ask (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi to give us helicopters, give us helicopters… please, please; 50,000 people will die otherwise… We have been demanding for Navy assistance since the past four days and still haven’t received any help. Airlifting is the only solution. Please, please, please,” MLA Cherian said during the TV show that was already flooded with panic calls from hundreds of victims and relatives. Read full story here.
A team of 10 rescuers in a boat have gone missing from Chengannur area. The boat was carrying eight fishermen and two fire service personnel.
"Centre seems to have failed to realise the seriousness of the Kerala disaster. The state government shouldn't refuse to hand over the rescue operations to the Army immediately. Centre should scale up the operation and resources immediately," Kerala opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said.
Requesting assistance via a Facebook post, Chengannur MLA Saji Cherian said several people in his constituency are in precarious situation and that airlifting is the only option to rescue them. He added that thousands will die if helicopters are not provided. Feeling helpless, he said the army must take control of the rescue operations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Kerala to take stock of the flood situation, news agency ANI reported. He is received by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala Governor P Sathasivam and Union Tourism Minister KJ Alphons.
Besides Telangana, the Andhra Pradesh government has announced a financial assistance of Rs 10 crore to the rain-ravaged state. Expressing grief over the devastation, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said his government would extend all possible help to Kerala. "Our moral support will always be there. We will also help the state in kind and other ways as well," the CM said in a statement. He hoped that the situation in the state would return to normal soon.
IAF officers have been positioned in the affected districts of Thrissur, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta, Alleppey and Malappuram to facilitate coordination of relief effort. Over 22 helicopters are being inducted into the Area of Responsibility of SAC and are operating from Sulur, Kochi and Trivandrum. Enroute to area are 10 heptrs.
04 more heptrs will be flying out from various bases to join rescue effort tomorrow. So far, a total of 311 civilians have been rescued by winching and food relief is being distributed at various critical flood affected areas and by air drop.
Total fixed wing aircraft deployed are three C-17, three IL-76, Six C-130 and nine An-32. These aircraft of the IAF continued overnight operations to ferry in NDRF, Army and Naval equipment. Overall, a total of 1073 disaster relief personnel and 118.2 tonnes of load and equipment have been positioned for support of relief work. Further efforts will continue to ensure timely aid to the civil population of Kerala to overcome the emergency situation.
Even as the flood situation continued to remain dire all across Kerala, Southern Naval Command had deployed a total of 58 rescue and diving teams with Gemini boats in multiple locations as of 4:30 PM on 17 Aug 18, the ninth day of #OperationMadad. Eighteen more teams were sent out to various locations since early morning, to augment the rescue teams. A total of 10 and 9 diving/ rescue teams with Gemini boats were received from Eastern Naval Command and Western Naval Command respectively. More than 3000 people have been rescued till date by the SNC and continuous efforts are on to bring the flood affected people to safety and also provide them essential relief supplies such as food and water.
The Telangana government has announced an assistance of Rs 25 crore to rain-ravaged Kerala. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has directed Chief Secretary S K Joshi to see that the money reaches Kerala immediately, an official release said.
Rao has also instructed that water purifying machines worth Rs 2.50 crore be supplied to Kerala as drinking water gets polluted due to floods, it said. The chief Minister has appealed to industrialists, prominent persons in IT sector and others in Telangana to help the rain-hit state, it said. He said donations, if they are made to the CM's Relief Fund, would be forwarded to Kerala. PTI
The Women and Child Development Ministry is coordinating with the Air Force and Kerala government to deliver 100 metric tonnes of ready-to-eat food packets to the flood-affected children in the state, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi said today.
"To aid distressed children stuck in this massive calamity, I have arranged 100 MT of ready-to-eat food. Have also assured the state government for more supplies," Gandhi said in a tweet. "Deeply anguished by the critical condition of Kerala. I have asked my team to extend full support to the Government of Kerala in rescue and relief operations," she said.
She added that her ministry is in touch with the Air Force to get the food packets delivered as soon as possible.
A total of 324 people have died since the onset of monsoon on May 29, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan while addressing a presser. He said 71,591 people have been rescued from Aluva, while 5,550 from Chalakudy. Around 3,600 people have been rescued from Chengannur, one of the worst flood- affected area in the state.
Southern Railway despatched three special trains carrying water to rain-ravaged Kerala where drinking water supply has been hit in some parts after functioning of pumping stations was disrupted in heavy rains. Over one lakh water bottles would also be sent through other trains bound for the state, a railways release said. A special train with seven-open wagons (BRN) containing tanks full of drinking water started from Erode Junction at 4pm today, it said. The train, bound for Thiruvananthapuram, will run through Dindigul, Madurai and Tirunelveli. Similarly, a seven-wagon train carrying 2.8 lakh litres of water and a 15-wagon special also commenced its journey to the neighbouring state, it said. PTI
The 'vigorous' southwest monsoon over rain-battered Kerala will bring in more heavy spells during the weekend in that state, besides Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the regional weather office said. The Southwest monsoon has been 'vigorous' over Kerala and 'active' over Telangana, Lakshadweep, coastal Karnataka and south interior Karnataka, the Regional Meteorological office here said in its daily weather report. PTI
Country boats being unloaded near Ambattukaavu Metro Station in Aluva for rescue operations. Besides, over 200 fishermen have voluntereed for the rescue operations.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said rain has started entering upper Kuttanad after a brief respite. Residents of the region are moving towards the camp located in high-lying areas.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has announced Rs. 10 crores worth of immediate relief for flood-hit Kerala, ANI reports. Rs 5 crore is being transferred from CM's relief fund and remaining Rs 5 crore will be in the form of ready-to-eat food material and other supplies.
The NDRF team has reached Muvattupuzha, which has been under water following unprecedented rains.
The NDRF said today it has moved more than 4,000 people to safer places and rescued another 44 from flooded areas in Kerala during the past nine days, even as its personnel struggle to reach remote areas cut off due to landslides. Kerala has been severely hit by monsoon rains and rivers and dam reservoirs are overflowing, inundating a large part of the state. At least 100 people died yesterday in rain-related incidents, State Disaster Management Authority officials said in Thiruvananthapuram.
Carborundum Universal Ltd, manufacturers of abrasives, electro-minerals and industrial ceramics, has said its hydel power plant at Maniyar in Kerala, was not generating power as it was flooded due to the heavy rainfall in the state.
The Odisha government today urged Kerala to provide people taking shelter in a house at Aluva Munnar Road, Odapally with basic assistance like food and water. The state government reacted when it received an SOS message informing about 130 people from Odisha stranded in the flood-stricken state, reported PTI.
I would, therefore, request you to kindly make necessary arrangement for providing support in terms of food, drinking water and other necessities to the above-mentioned flood-affected people Odisha." the state's Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi wrote a letter to P H Kurian, Additional Chief Secretary, Disaster Management, Kerala.
The pregnant lady who was airlifted and evacuated to Sanjivini had a safe delivery and is coping well, says the Spokesperson of the Indian Navy.
Red alert has been withdrawn from two districts -- Thiruvananthapuram and north Kerala's Kasaragod. Now, 12 out of 14 districts remain are on red alert
Unprecedented flooding has swamped a car showroom in Thrissur district.
Indian national team footballers have expressed solidarity with the victims of the unprecedented flood in Kerala. The situation in Kerala remains precarious with water levels still rising dangerously in many rivers and people stranded in many areas waiting for help to arrive.
Midfielder Vinit Rai wrote on his twitter handle, "Sometimes the nicest people have to appear for the toughest test. You are God's own country and you will always be so. Stay strong Kerala, we are with you. #StayWithKerala."
"I can feel how the dreadful situation is in Kerala right now. Our thoughts are with Kerala. May the Almighty give them the strength to overcome this tough time," said Nikhil Poojary, who also plays as a midfielder.
Striker Ashique Kuruniyan, who hails from Kerala, said, "It's a terrible situation for me out here. Although I have to focus on my game, the situation in Kerala keeps on bothering me every time. I have stopped following the #KeralaFlood news nowadays. Hope we see the end of it soon."
Chief coach Stephen Constantine, too, tweeted about the grim situation in the southern state. "Our thoughts today are with our friends in Kerala as bad weather is causing terrible problems," Constantine said.