JK gives Kerala Rs 2 cr for flood relief

#Death toll in Kerala mounts to 210, Thousands still waiting to be rescued

20/08/2018

SRINAGAR/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Aug 19: The Jammu and Kashmir government today announced an assistance of Rs two crore for supporting the flood relief efforts in Kerala.
Governor N NVohra has conveyed to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan the "sorrow and sincere sympathy" of the people and the government of the state over the "tragic" loss of hundreds of lives and the enormous damage of the public and private properties in the worst flood crisis that Kerala is facing in the past several decades, a Raj Bhavan spokesman said.
He said the governor also conveyed to the chief minister the J&K government's decision to provide Rs two crore help for supporting the flood relief efforts under way in Kerala.
Vohra and the members of his state administrative council have condoled the tragic death of people who lost their lives in the flood fury and conveyed their sympathy for the lakhs of families who have been rendered homeless in Kerala, the spokesman said. He said the governor has also announced that suitable arrangements are being made urgently for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to contribute to the Kerala Flood Relief Fund.
Thousands of people in flood-hit areas in Kerala are battling all odds to survive as the death toll has touched 197 in the past 10 days in the second spell of monsoon fury since August 8.
Many are still stranded in their homes with no food and sheaths of water around them at various places in Alapuzha, Thrissur and Ernakulam districts.
The maximum death toll has been reported from Idukki district, where 43 people have lost their lives so far, as per official estimates. Twenty eight deaths were reported in Malappuram and 27 in Thrissur.
At Chengannur in Alapuzha district, at least 5,000 are stranded, according to revenue officials.
Over six lakh people are in relief camps across the state.
"This is a second birth for us. We did not have any food for the last four days and there was neck deep water all around," said a woman survivor in a relief camp at Ranni in Pathanamthitta district. A woman at Aranmula near Alapuzha said they had not had any food or water for two days.
Many people are still stranded as they prefer to be in their homes.
At Paravur in Ernakulam district, six persons are said to have been killed as a portion of a church collapsed on Wednesday night. At least 600 are stranded in the church and no help has come from any quarter so far, an angry survivor in chest deep water told a television channel.
"There is no food or drinking water... no one has so far come to help us.”
However, there is no official confirmation about the deaths of the six persons in the church so far.
Agriculture minister V S Sunil Kumar said at least 42 villages in Kole wetlands in Thrissur were inundated after the Karivannurriver changed its course following breach of a bund road. Over 2 lakh people in Thrissur district are in relief camps, he said. In some relief, Kochi Naval airport will start operating commercial flights from tomorrow.
This was due to closure of the Kochi International airport till August 26 following flooding of the runway and airport areas in the heavy rains.
The railways have cancelled at least 18 trains, partially cancelled nine and diverted today's Kanyakumari-Mumbai CST express train via Nagercoil, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Dindigul and Erode. With several stretches across the state being destroyed, the services of the Kerala State Transport Corporation and private buses has also been affected.
Along with personnel of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and the NDRF, hundreds of fishermen and local people are engaged in relief operations.
A young officer safely winched to safety a baby from a building marooned by flood waters yesterday, while at another place girl students from a hostel were rescued in a similar manner. A 24-year-old man, who rescued his mother and siblings after their home was fully flooded, lost his life as he tripped and fell into the fast flowing waters while helping his aged father.
His body was recovered yesterday. His father, who held on to a fallen tree branch, was saved from the flood water.
Prime Minister NarendraModi had undertaken an aerial survey of some of the flood affected regions yesterday and reviewed the situation. The Centre had sanctioned Rs 500 crore as immediate assistance to the state. The deadly monsoon rains that savaged Kerala claimed 13 more lives today, taking the toll to 210 in the last ten days as parts of neighbouring Karnataka and Tamil Nadu too reeled under floods.
More than 3,500 people have been rescued till today in Kodagu district of Karanataka, where six people lost their lives in floods and landslides in the past few days, while major rivers, including Cauvery, were in spate in Tamil Nadu, inundating low-lying areas along the banks.
In Kerala, which bore the brunt of the south west monsoon fury, the number of those displaced in the torrential rains was today put at 7.24 lakh by Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan, who also said most of the affected had been rescued and the government's focus would now be their rehabilitation.
In all, nearly 400 people had died in rain-related incidents, mainly landslides and floods, since the monsoon set in on May 29 in the state which received a body blow with its tourism industry wrecked, standing crops in thousands of hectares destroyed and huge damage to infrastructure.
High-range Idukki district, Malappuram and Thrissur and Ernakulam are among the worst hit in the state which saw its mighty Mullaperiyar Dam and Idukki reservoirs being opened, so as scores of other water bodies, causing floods downstream. In a big relief, there was respite from the rains in most parts of Kerala today after nearly two weeks of virtually non-stop onslaught and the red alert has been lifted in several districts.
The rainfall intensity over Kerala has decreased over the past two days, the meteorology department said, adding there is no alert of heavy precipitation for the next four days. President Ram Nath Kovind spoke to Kerala Governor P Sathasivam and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and enquired about the situation and acknowledged the grit and resilience of the people in coming together in this trying hour.
"Assured the people of the state that entire nation was with them," the RashtrapatiBhavan tweeted.
Prime Minister NarendraModi yesterday undertook an aerial survey of monsoon ravaged areas and announced an immediate assistance of Rs 500 crore.
Thirteen people lost their lives today and 7,24,649 lakh people were in 5,645 relief camps, Vijayan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram after a review meeting.
Around 22,000 people were rescued today, he said lauding the efforts put in by personnel of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, NDRF, fishermen and local people in the operations.
The Chief Minister said in each panchayat six health officers would be deployed to ensure there was no outbreak of any communicable diseases as the flood water recedes.
Commercial flight operations from Kochi, hit following the closure of its international airport due to flooding, would resume tomorrow from the Naval airport to Coimbatore and Bengaluru, bringing some relief to travellers. Rail traffic continued to be disrupted in several parts of the state with railways cancelling at least 18 trains.
Meanwhile, as flood waters receded in some areas, people in relief camps have slowly started returning to their homes. Efforts are on to restore power and water supply in areas where the power systems have been completely destroyed. In Karnataka's Kodagu, bordering Kerala, as many as 317 people, including a two-month-old infant, were rescued and shifted to relief centres since yesterday and the operations continued in and around Makkandooru and other affected areas today, officials said.
President Kovind and Prime Minister NarendraModi spoke over phone to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, camping in the rain-battered district, and enquired about the situation. "Extended all possible support in the rescue and relief operations. I pray for the safety and well-being of those in the flood affected areas," the PM tweeted.
Nearly 1,000 personnel from the Armed Forces, National and State Disaster Response Forces, Civil Defence Teams, Fire and Emergency are engaged in the rescue work since August 15. Describing the situation as a difficult time, Kumaraswamy said the government's focus was to rescue the people. There were also reports about flooding and landslides in a few districts of coastal and Malnad region, especially in Chikkamagaluru district, affecting road connectivity.
In Tamil Nadu, a flood alert was sounded for 13 districts, including the Cauvery delta regions, besides Madurai and Theni as the Periyar and Vaigai dams too received copious inflows. Heavy discharges were being made from dams, including Mettur, in view of copious inflows from Karnataka, leading to inundation of several villages and submergence of standing crops along the banks of Cauvery and its tributary Bhavani. Water level in Vaigai dam in Madurai district touched 69 feet (maximum 71 ft), prompting officials to open its shutters, officials said. Nearly 14,000 people have been moved to relief camps in different districts so far in the state, officials said.
Chief Minister K Palaniswami, who inpsected flood-hit areas in western districts, assured compensation for crop loss due to the floods and permanent houses to the affected. His ministerial colleagues O S Manian, R B Udaya kumar and S P Velumani visited flood-hit villages in Nagapattinam, Kanyakumari district and Valparai in Coimbatore district, worst hit by heavy rains.

Photo Gallery

BSE Sensex

NSE Nifty