Century’s worst loods drown Kerala
TRIVANDRUM: The “worst loods of the century” have killed over 300 people in Kerala, the southern state said on Friday.
Reports from districts said the heavy rains lashing across the state had started subsiding much to the relief of rescuers who are in full gear and saving thousands of stranded people.
However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the situation continued to be grim, and thousands remained stuck in their homes in remote villages cut off from the rest.
“Rains have weakened in some places but continues in full strength in other places,” he told reporters here.
“Palakkad, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur remain the most affected.”
Currently, 223,139 people from 52,856 families are living in 1,562 relief camps.
The death toll since the onset of the southwest monsoon on May 29 has reached 324. All the 80 dams, 56 of them generating hydroelectric power, are now open, looding downstream villages and towns.
“Kerala is facing its worst lood in 100 years,” he said.
As the Cochin International Airport remains closed until August 26, the federal government has offered the Indian Navy’s airport in the port city to open for passenger lights.
The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) met for a second time in two days in New Delhi on Friday and reviewed the rescue and relief operations ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit.
Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha, who chaired the meeting, held a video confer- ence with the chief secretaries of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
It decided to mobilise additional resources of all agencies including Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
The cabinet secretary directed them to provide boats, helicopters, lifejackets, life buoys, raincoats, gumboots and inlatable tower lights.
Kerala chief secretary Tom Jose requested for motorised boats to reach people marooned in lood-affected areas.
So far, the federal government has deployed 339 motorised boats, 2,800 lifejackets, 1,400 lifebuoys, 27 light towers and 1,000 raincoats.
Further, 72 motor boats, 5,000 lifejackets, 2,000 lifebuoys, 13 light towers and 1,000 raincoats are on the way.
They have distributed 100,000 food packets and arrangements are being made to supply another 100,000, besides milk powder.
Indian Navy has deployed 51 boats additionally and lew 16 sorties in 48 hours in rescue operations.
It airdropped 1,600 food packets and lifejackets as distress calls from families stuck in waters looded the helplines.
Coast Guard deployed 30 boats along with rescue teams, and the IAF 23 helicopters and 11 transport aircraft. Army pressed into service ten columns, ten engineering task forces and 60 crafts.
The NDRF has mobilised 43 rescue teams and 163 boats along with other equipment and is battling loods in different places.
The cabinet secretary directed the forces to mobilise additional boats and equipment.
The Railways provided 120,000 water bottles, and another batch of 120,000 is on the way. It is also running a special train carrying 290,000 litres of drinking water.
Use of Naval airstrip at Kochi for use by civilian airlines has been offered to the Kerala government as the airport remained closed.
Kerala government has been advised to explore the use of VSAT communication links in areas where telephone connectivity has been disrupted.
He also directed to put emergency medicines on standby.
All the 14 districts barring Kasaragod remain under red alert.
The indian meteorological department has warned of heavy rain accompanied with gusty wind speed reaching 60 km phi nT hi ru van a nth a pu ram,Kol lam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Palakkad and Malappuram districts.
It has relaxed red alert for other districts except for Ernakulam and Idukki for Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court directed the National Committee for Crisis Management and the Disaster Management to explore the possibility of reducing the water level of Mullaperiyar.
The dam in Kerala’s Idukki district, in possession of the neighbouring Tamil Nadu state on a long-term lease, now has reached to the brim at 142 ft and apex court suggests to keep it at 139 ft.
The SC bench chaired by Chief Justice Dipak Misra in its order said the situation caused by the loods in the state required to be “addressed with focus, concentration and eficiency by all concerned.”
Kerala fears even worse tragedy if the century-old dam breaks submerging four downstream districts.