Kerala death toll passes 300 in worst flooding for a century
THE Indian state of Kerala has been hit with its highest rainfall in a century leaving more than 300 dead, after widespread flooding submerged roads, power lines went down and dams reached bursting point.
Pinarayi Vijayan, the southern state’s chief minister, said: “Kerala is facing its worst flood in 100 years. 80 dams opened, 324 lives lost and 223,139 people are in about 1,500 relief camps.”
The death toll of 324 includes fatalities from a previous bout of monsoon storms last month, as well as the fatalities since last week which are thought to number up to 175.
Narendra Modi, the prime minister, was due to reach Kerala yesterday evening to help manage the disaster, after attending the funeral of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former Indian leader.
A red alert has been issued in all 14 Keralan districts, with the central government activating all three wings of the armed forces in a gargantuan rescue operation. Helicopters airlifted people from roofs and dam gates were flung open as rain battered the state non-stop for nearly a fortnight.
Tourists were warned against travelling to the state and the airport in the city of Kochi is closed until Aug 26.
“The situation is bad here and it is understandably closed for tourism now, while we deal with the rescue efforts”, said Thomas Joseph, general manager of the travel company Kerala Holidays. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph from Kochi, he said: “It’s still raining so heavily it’s not safe for air travel really, even many of the roads across the state are submerged or slippery. But, we hope that in two or three days the storms will break, and we can try and get on with rebuilding.
“While many parts of Kochi are not too bad, some areas around it, especially near the Periyar River, are badly flooded.”
People stranded in the hill station of Munnar, one of the main tourist sites in Kerala, say hotel rooms lie vacant, most places have lost power and there’s little phone reception, with roads submerged by mud.
Officials warn that hospitals in the state are facing a shortage of oxygen and petrol stations are running dry.
The fierce storms have caused grave damage to both crops and properties that the state estimates to be over 80billion rupees (£1billion).
Several appeals have been launched online and tech companies joined the rescue efforts. Amazon India has appealed to customers to donate clothing and items for shelters, while Google and Facebook developed tracking programs to help find stranded people.
Domestic airlines have been asked to keep a fixed maximum on air fares for flights to and from Kerala by the central government, and telecom companies pledged free call and data services for users in the state during the crisis.