CENTRE STEPS IN AS KERALA FLOODS TURN ‘VERY SERIOUS’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala struggled on Sunday to cope with floods that have inundated half the state, left at least 40 people dead and a trail of devastation that chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan described as the worst disaster to have befallen the southern Indian state with a population of 35 million.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh promised all possible central help to Kerala to deal with the unprecedented flooding after carrying out an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas with Vijayan, who sent out an SOS for help to “all quarters”.

Singh announced immediate relief of ₹100 crore to the state. The Kerala government put the total loss from floods at ₹8,316 crore. Vijayan sought immediate relief of ₹1,220 crore.

The Union minister praised agencies involved in rescue and relief operations for their efforts and said more help will be announced after a visit by central government officials.

“After viewing the disaster, I reached the conclusion that the situation in Kerala is very serious,” Singh said. “Both the Centre and state will work together to meet the challenge.”

“Kerala is facing the worst floods in over seven decades. More than half of the state is flood-hit. The whole nation is with the suffering people of the state,” said Singh, who attended a high-level meeting to review measures taken to deal with fallout of the flooding.

Army, navy, air force and National Disaster Response Force teams were deployed in many areas of the worst-hit Idukki and Wayanad districts. Besides thousands of houses, many bridges and roads were swept away by flash floods. HTC