Kerala floods declared as ‘calamity of severe nature’

August 21, 2018 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani No comments

Kerala is suffering with severe floods due to continuous monsoons since August 8, 2018. Despite several rescue teams are trying to evacuate people and several people are struck in these floods.

As per the estimate, the death toll in these floods mounted to 216. And government declared this as a ‘calamity of severe nature’.

More than 7.24 lakh people are provided with shelters in 5,645 relief camps as per the official sources.

Yet, considering the intensity and magnitude of these floods, the Home Ministry declared it as a calamity of severe nature and a statement was given in both the Houses of Parliament yesterday.

This declaration helps the state government get more money and other necessary help from central government.

Both, Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had announced their one month’s salary for Kerala relief.

They also appealed all MPs to donate their salaries as well.

They also said that affected areas can get up to a maximum of ₹1 crore as per the recommendation of an MP under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) due to severity.

Though there is no alert of heavy rainfall in the coming four days, the state is now trying to reconstruct its infrastructure and restore normal life in addition to preventing the outburst of water-borne diseases.

The water and power supply has been interrupted for several days in the state and Authorities are trying to restore these supplies.

Relief material started reaching the Kochi port from various parts of the country to meet people’s needs. These include essential provisions, water and fuel.

A team of doctors and paramedical staff from Maharashtra also reached Kerala to help the flood victims in the state.

Image credit: Kerala Flood Relief by Ramakrishna Math, Koyilandy, 23 August 2018 (2nd Phase) image by Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission Belur Math (Public Domain Mark 1.0)