Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting flood-hit Kerala on Friday. The announcement about Modi’s visit was made by Union Minister Alphonse Kannanthanam on Thursday.
“PM will arrive in Kochi on Friday evening and will be staying there for the day following which he will go on an aerial inspection on Saturday,” Alphonse told media.
Modi is expected to reach Kochi after the funeral of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Alphonse said that following the inspection, the PM will have a review meeting with the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, regarding the situation in the state.
Modi on Thursday morning had put a tweet saying, “Spoke to Kerala CM Shri Pinarayi Vijayan again this morning. We discussed the flood situation in the state. Have asked Defence Ministry to further step up the rescue and relief operations across the state. Praying for the safety and well-being of the people of Kerala.”
It has been more than a week since the second round of rains started to lash Kerala, causing even more severe damage to life and property, compared to the rains that hit the state in July this year.
Pinarayi Vijayan in a press meet on Thursday evening said that various agencies of the central and state government were working in tandem to control the situation. The water level of the Chalakudy river was not going to decrease for now, so precautionary measures will be taken, he added.
“Many people are stranded in waterlogged areas on the second and third floors of buildings. We are trying to rescue them from there and measures will be taken to provide food and water for them to survive. We need the cooperation of everybody in the country to do this,” Pinarayi Vijayan said.
With more rainfall predicted on Friday, the CM advised people to be cautious and asked them to be wary of fake news pertaining to the floods. This comes soon after a circular, which said that action will be taken against people who spread false information.