Centre to send 23 more NDRF teams to Kerala
With Kerala continuing to face the wrath of devastating floods, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) at a meeting in the Capital on Thursday decided to send an additional 23 NDRF teams and promised immediate and adequate assistance.
Cabinet secretary PK Sinha chaired the NCMC meeting on the instructions of PM Narendra Modi. The floods have claimed more than 100 lives so far.
The meeting was attended by the secretaries of defence, home and water resources, the three service chiefs, the coast guard chief, the head of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), member of the National Disaster Management Authority and the chairman of the Central Water Commission.
Kerala chief secretary and his team participated through videoconferencing, a release said.
For proper reservoir management in Mullaperiyar Dam, the NCMC constituted a committee chaired by chairman of CWC and engineers-in-chief of Tamil Nadu
NEW DELHI:
and Kerala.
Helicopters airlifted stranded families from rooftops and dam gates were thrown open as incessant torrential rain brought fresh havoc on Thursday.
State authorities said many people were trapped inside their houses. More than 60,000 people have sought refuge in relief camps. “At least 6,500 people are stranded in different parts of Kerala and the situation in three districts is particularly grim,” a Kerala state disaster management official said.
Floods have also caused havoc in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh amont other states.
Local reports said the Kerala State Electricity Board plans to shut down power stations in the entire state in view of electrocution risks, and has urged citizens to keep their cellphones and other electronic equipment charged.