Kerala rain fury: People still stranded, buried in debris

Rescue teams working round the clock trying to rescue people in 13 of the 14 districts devastated by rain; no compensation announced yet

Thirteen of the 14 districts in Kerala have been badly ravaged in the deluge and flooding over the past few days. The biggest challenge according to state secretariat officials at Thiruvananthapuram is that the death toll, estimated to be around 325 currently, is likely to go up, as many interior parts of the flood-affected districts are cut off completely due to disrupted communication systems, landslides and water-logging. Rescue teams have been working round the clock and have so far rescued over a 1.50 lakh people stranded at different locations.

7 of family buried in debris
Also, landslide and heavy underwater currents have completely damaged houses, some of which have got washed away, making it very difficult for rescue teams to even know if there are people stuck inside them. In Namara, a village in Palakkad, the occupants of three collapsed houses were buried under the debris. It was only after a few locals reached out to rescue teams that the police could dig out the bodies of seven members of a family, including a pregnant woman. The loss of lives of cattle and pets is yet to be calculated. The authorities have not announced any compensation yet.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Kerala late Friday evening, the state government is hopeful that the Centre will announce a relief package, which will help the state government carry out restoration work and give financial aid to the affected people.

Tons of food grain damaged
Meanwhile, over one lakh metric tons of food grain, including rice, wheat and sugar, have been completely damaged. Most of the food grain was stocked at various food and civil supplies godowns and partner rice mills, and were to be distributed at fair price shops across the state before the festive period next week.

While Minister for Food and Civil Supplies P Thilotaman was busy with a high level meeting with other senior state leaders, his officer on special duty, Anil Gopinath, confirmed the developments.

"So far, 1.18 lakh metric tons of food grain have been completely damaged in flood waters, and this figure is likely to go up once we start stock evaluation. Of this, 20,000 metric tons of rice, wheat flour packets, wheat and sugar had been stored places like Ernakulam, Idukki,Kotayyam, Kannur, Pathanamthitta, etc," said Gopinath.

He said, "Out of 1,500 fair price shops across Kerala, over 100 plus are submerged under the water causing heavy losses. And as per the state records, of the around 80 lakh ration card holders, most have lost all their documents and cards. This means post the flood, a new process will once again be started to issue temporary ration cards." The food and civil supplies department has around 300 godowns across Kerala state, and 10 of them have been destroyed completely in the rain. The department is yet to collect information about the other godowns.

Plan to tackle future floods
According to state officials, "The biggest challenge for the state government will be to start working on plans and modalities to prevent a similar incident in the future, which also means that a detailed survey and study will need to be undertaken to understand the core problem and come up with solutions. This will be a mammoth and time-consuming task and may take years to be completed."

State Revenue Minister E Chandrashekar said, "We have never seen such a situation almost a decade (96 years) and this means we will have to seriously think about our future and how to prevent such floods."

Where you can donate in Mumbai
The Mumbai coast guard is likely to dispatch a rescue ship to Kerala on Saturday afternoon and numerous Malyali associations have started collecting water, rice, dal and biscuits in large quantities to be transported to flood affected areas. A request posted on social media said relief camps have urgently asked for drinking water and basic food like rice. Those wishing to contribute emergency essentials such as drinking water, rice and biscuits can do so today (August 18) at the following locations before 3pm.

* Kerala House Vashi Swami Pranabananda Marg, Sector 30, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra 400703
* Adarsh Vidyalaya Chembur (Near Tilak Nagar Station) Shell Colony Rd, Number 5, Sahakar Nagar, Chembur East, Mumbai, 400071

Also Read: Kerala Floods: 75,000 houses washed away, Rs 700 crore worth crops damaged

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