CM Vijayan puts flood death toll at 417 since May

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday put the number of dead in rains and floods at 417 as hundreds began returning home from relief camps, still leaving 8.69 lakh people in 2,787 shelters.

Vijayan told the media that the deaths began since the monsoon rains started on May 29 but 265 of the casualties were reported from August 8 when torrential downpour triggered the worst flooding in the state in nearly a century.

Another 36 people were missing, he said, and urged those battered by the floods to submit on the Kerala government website details of the losses suffered by them. Some 7,000 houses were destroyed in the fury and around 50,000 had been partially damaged. Vijayan’s comments came as more and more people began quitting the relief camps, which at one time totalled more than 3,000, to restart lives in their previously water-logged homes.

As Friday remained sunny, water receded faster in most places that were inundated.

The maximum number of people in relief camps were said to be in Alappuzha, Chengannur, Paravur, Changnacherry, Chalakudy and parts of Pathanamthitta district. In Kottayam, several camps wound up. At one centre at the CMS College, people were treated to an Onam ‘sadya’ -the traditional feast served during state’s most important festival. The main Onam festival falls on Saturday but Kerala will at best see subdued celebrations. The government has cancelled the official festivities and diverted the ₹39 crore meant for it for relief work.

“We were treated well by the camp managers. We do not know what our fate will be when we return as we have nothing except

the clothes we are in,” said Thankama, a 70-year-old woman as she prepared to leave. Finance minister Thomas Issac said that around 5,000 volunteers were reaching the waterlogged areas in and around Kuttandu. “An army of electricians, plumbers and even snake catchers are going to go around the 13 panchayats in Alappuzha district from August 28. They will clean up all houses and latest by the first week of next month...,” he said. Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat president VK Madhu said that 4,000 people from the the district would spread over across various flood ravaged places to engage in cleaning exercises starting on Saturday. Congress’ Ramesh Chennithala demanded the government should increase the amount of money given to camp inmates,