RaGa visits camps; calls it ‘big tragedy’
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug. 28: With Kerala inching towards normalcy after the rain mayhem a fortnight ago, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said, the government would soon come out with an action plan to rebuild the state, which has suffered a loss much more than the estimated `20,000 crore.
The day also saw Congress President Rahul Gandhi visiting some relief camps in flood-ravaged areas of Chengannur, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Chalkuddy in Thrissur.
Mr Gandhi termed the heavy rains and floods which claimed several lives and displaced many as a “very big tragedy.”
On the rehabilitation process, Mr Vijayan said with more people returning home, the number of people in relief camps have come down to 1.97 lakh. There were more than 14.50 lakh people in camps on August 21. “This shows that nearly 12.53 lakh people have returned home after rehabilitation began,” he said.
At Kuttanad, known as the state’s rice bowl, around 70,000 people on Wednesday took part in the massive clean-up drive to remove silt and debris dumped by the floods. The region, which is below the sea level, has several areas still inundated.
State Finance Minister Thomas Isaac and PWD Minister G Sudhakaran launched the drive in which 1,000 engineers, IT volunteers and snake catchers are participating.