Kerala flood 2018: The southern Indian state continues to reel under acute crisis with the death toll mounting to 210 and property worth crore being damaged after incessant monsoon rains. The flood, considered to be the worst in close to a century, has claimed 210 lives since August 8 and over 400 since May 29 when the south west monsoon set in over Kerala. More than 80 dams were opened, leading to floods while the rains also triggered landslides. The high-range Idukki district, Malappuram and Thrissur are among the worst hit.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the number of those displaced in the torrential rains was 7.24 lakh. Thirteen people lost their lives today while 7,24,649 lakh people have taken shelter at 5,645 relief camps. Around 22,000 people have been rescued. The Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, NDRF have launched an extensive rescue operation which has come in come in for praise from the CM as well. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had undertaken an aerial survey of monsoon-ravaged areas and announced an immediate assistance of Rs 500 crore. Public transport like metro, bus and train services were affected badly. Kochi airport was closed till August 26.
Shiv Sena MPs and MLAs have announced that they will contribute their one month salary to Kerala Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
“It’s a historic day as the airport is back into civil operations. Substantial work done to ensure all facilities are available and support is given for aircraft to operate. We’ve segregated parking bays so that unhindered operations take place,” Commodore RR Iyer, CO, INS Garuda said.
Actor Jayaram and his family were rescued by Kerala police during the floods. The actor has thanked the cops for rescuing them, has been generously contributing items to areas that were badly affected and he has urged people to contribute items particularly food for babies and children.
The Indian Navy’s community kitchens are reaching out to the flood victims who are spread out across several relief camps by providing them with freshly prepared food from their canteen. These community kitchens opened on Friday and these will continue to serve the affected flood victims as long as relief camps remain operational in the affected areas.So far, local reports indicate that 7,000 flood-affected victims have benefited from the Navy’s community kitchen outreach.
First commercial flight lands at INS Garuda Kochi Naval Air Station after Cochin International Airport got affected due to floods.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MPs have decided to donate their one month salary to Kerala Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund.
A ‘Thanks’ note painted on the roof of a house in Kochi from where the Naval ALH piloted by Cdr Vijay Varma had rescued two women on August 17.
55 doctors from JJ Hospital in Mumbai, 26 doctors from Pune’s Sassoon hospital and paramedical staff leave for Thiruvananthapuram in two Air India aircraft.