After a high-level meeting with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Kochi on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared Rs 500 crore to be released in immediate assistance for Kerala.
Modi arrived in Kerala on Friday night after attending former PM Atal Bihar Vajpayee’s funeral, and stayed at Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram. On Saturday, he met Pinarayi in Kochi, chairing a high-level meeting with state officials.
Pinarayi told PM Modi that according to preliminary estimates, Kerala has incurred losses worth Rs 19,512 crores. He further added that a final account of the loss can only be calculated after the flood waters recede.
The Chief Minister had also requested the PM for an immediate relief of Rs 2000 crore to deal with the flood-related losses.
The PM’s relief fund for the state comes days after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had visited flood-hit Kerala. Following an aerial survey on August 12, Rajnath Singh had announced Rs 100 crore as immediate relief.
The PM's office on Saturday, in a tweet had also announced an, “ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh per person to the next kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 to those seriously injured from PMNRF.”
PM @narendramodi expressed grief and sorrow on the unfortunate deaths and damage caused to property due to floods in Kerala.
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 18, 2018
PM announced ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh per person to the next kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 to those seriously injured from PMNRF.
Since the onset of the monsoons on May 29, 324 people have been killed in the rains in Kerala, with 164 losing their lives in the last ten days alone, while thousands have been left homeless and displaced.
Kerala has been reeling under heavy rainfall and flooding after the shutters of a number of dams had to be opened across the state to let out water. As per CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s tweet on Friday, a total of 80 dams have been opened to let out water in the state.
Various appeals are being made for people to contribute to the CM’s disaster relief fund. Various citizen groups across the country have also come together and are making efforts to collect donations as well as relief materials such as clothes, food, blankets and so on to send to Kerala.
A challenge that remains however is getting the relief material to Kerala as several roadways are blocked because of the flooding. The Cochin International Airport too has ceased all operations till August 26.