Kerala struggles to tide over worst deluge since 1924
AT LEAST HALF OF THE STATE IS AFFECTED BY FLOOD AND AROUND ONE LAKH PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SHIFTED TO RELIEF CAMPS
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Water level in many reservoirs receded in flood-hit Kerala though rain continued to lash many parts of the state on Monday. Authorities said red alert in eight districts will continue for one more day. The Regional Meteorological Centre said this was the worst flood the state witnessed after 1924 deluge which claimed hundreds of lives.
According to revenue officials, it will take months for the state ravaged by floods to get back to its feet.
At least half of the state is affected by flood and around one lakh people have been shifted to relief camps. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan put the loss at an estimated ₹8,316 crore and sought help from all quarters to tide over the crisis.
He said at least 20,000 houses were damaged and many bridges and roads were swept away.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh who had an aerial survey of the affected areas said situation in Kerala was “very serious”.
He also announced an interim relief of ₹100 crore to the state. But many leaders, including state finance minister Thomas Issac and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, said the amount was too little.
“Our loss is over Rs 8,000 crore. Immediate mitigation and rectification expenditure is around ₹3,000 crore. And the Centre has granted ₹100 crore, that too from the regular disaster management fund. It is woefully inadequate,” Isaac tweeted. He said the state needs generous aid to get back to its feet.
Union tourism minister KJ Alphons, however, termed Isaac’s comment a “political” one and alleged that he did not visit the worst-affected areas. Isaac took to Twitter to say the “precious ~100 crore” was “from the regular disaster management fund due to Kerala”.
During a media interaction at the Indian Women’s Press Club in the national capital, Alphons said: “Thomas Isaac is complaining all the time... Isaac never visited his constituency Alapuzha during these floods. What is he talking about? I have asked for a special package for Kerala.”
Fresh landslips were reported from Kannur, Kozhikode and Wayand districts. Shutters of Pamba and Anathode dams were opened, inundating the base camp of Sabarimla in Pamba.
The Travancore Devaswom Board has advised devotees to defer their trips to the hill shrine till water recedes.
The meteorological centre said the state will receive rain for two more days and it attributed the wet condition to depression along the Odisha coast.