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Kerala floods Highlights: Necessary help equivalent to total damages caused needed, says CM
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said that 90% of the rescue is over, and over 10 lakh people have been moved to relief camps. The chief justice of India Dipak Misra said SC judges will also contribute to Kerala flood relief fund.Union minister KJ Alphons on Monday said, that Kerala doesn’t need clothes and food, it needs electricians, plumbers, and carpenters to put life back into the state, reported ANI. Thirteen more deaths were reported on Sunday in the floods triggered by 10 days of torrential rainfall in Kerala, taking the death toll to 239. The overall death toll since May 29 rose to 370.Here are the LIVE updates:
10:25pm IST
Necessary help needed, says CM
“223 people lost their lives between August 8-20. 6 people died today. Centre said they will make all necessary requirements available to us but in today’s situation what is most needed is the necessary help, equivalent to the total damages caused so far,” says Kerala chief minister.
9:40pm IST
Maldives donates $50,000 for flood-hit Kerala
Expressing sympathies to the government and people of India over the death and destruction in Kerala floods, the Maldives has announced a donation of $50,000 as a “token contribution in solidarity”, the Maldives Embassy said.
“This donation is a small gesture to a neighbour and friend who has always stood by Maldives in its hour of need,” Maldives Ambassador to India Ahmed Mohamed said.
9:38pm IST
Centre should declare Kerala floods as national calamity: Andhra CM
“Central govt should declare it as a national calamity. It is the responsibility of everyone to restore normalcy in Kerala,” says Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu.
“Andhra has extended assistance of nearly Rs 50 Crore through all means including financial help. As per the request of Kerala CM 2000 MT of rice would be supplied to Kerala at a cost of Rs 6 Crore. The MPs and MLCs are donating one month salary towards Kerala floods,” he added.
9:15pm IST
India stands with Kerala in this hour of need: Piyush Goyal
“India stands with Kerala in this hour of need. The central government is exempting basic customs duty and IGST for the consignments of aid and relief materials being dispatched or imported from abroad for the affected people,” tweets railway minister Piyush Goyal.
9:00pm IST
Diageo donates Rs 1 crore to flood-hit Kerala
Leading liquor major Diageo India donated Rs 1 crore to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund, the company said on Monday. “Our officials met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and donated the fund for the massive flood relief work underway across the coastal state,” said the Indian arm of the British beverage firm.
8:45pm IST
One million in Kerala relief centres: CM
Over one million people are now sheltered in 3,274 relief camps in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, even as rains that have battered the state for a week finally abate A total of 602 marooned people were rescued on Monday, the Chief Minister added.
8:30pm IST
Army will stay in Kerala till situation stabilised: Southern chief
The Army will continue to be engaged in the rescue operations in flood-hit Kerala till the situation stabilised, Southern Command chief Lt Gen DR Soni said. He also said the Army’s medical teams would extend the first line of relief in co-ordination with the government.
“There are inaccessible areas and our men will continue to reach out to people who needed to be rescued,” he added.
8:15pm IST
No provision to declare a disaster as ‘national calamity’: Centre
The Centre informed the Kerala High Court there was no legal provision to declare a disaster as a national calamity, amid demands for declaring the floods as a national disaster. In an affidavit, the Centre said it has treated the flood situation in Kerala as a “Disaster of Serious Nature” and has categorised the same as ‘L3 Level of Disaster’ under the National Disaster Management Guidelines.
“It is submitted that there is no provision in statutes or manuals to declare a disaster as a ‘national calamity’, howsoever big it may be. It is only an expression used in general parlance,” the Centre said.
8:00pm IST
Why not declare Kerala floods a national calamity: AAP asks Modi
Delhi’s ruling AAP on Monday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not declaring Kerala’s devastating floods a national calamity.
“Why the delay in declaring Kerala floods a national calamity? People are suffering and you are being indecisive?” the Aam Aadmi Party tweeted on its official Twitter handle.
7:50pm IST
Delhi officers hand over Rs 1.5 lakh to Kejriwal for flood relief
Rs 1.5 lakh collected by the association of DANICS officers for the flood-affected people of Kerala was handed over to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Officers belonging to Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli Civil Service (DANICS) also pledged to donate their one-day salary for the flood victims, the association said.
7:40pm IST
SC judges to contribute to Kerala flood relief fund: CJI
Twenty five Supreme Court judges would contribute in the relief funds for the victims of flood in Kerala which has seen the large scale devastation of lives and properties, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said.
According to the apex court sources, the judges will contribute Rs 25,000 each to the relief fund.
7:35pm IST
Dept of Consumer Affairs dispatches 100 Metric tonnes of pulses
Dept of Consumer Affairs has dispatched 100 Metric tonne (MT) of pulses today. Ministry of Health has airlifted 52 MT of emergency medicines. 20 MT of medicines to reach Kerala by tonight. 20MT of bleaching powder & 1 crore Chlorine tablets to be dispatched by tom: Central Govt pic.twitter.com/49YDIQ7Pye
— ANI (@ANI) August 20, 2018
7:30pm IST
Jamia teachers to donate one-day salary
Jamia teachers have decided to donate one-day salary to the flood-affected people of Kerala, says Jamia Teachers’ Association.
7:00pm IST
Centre declares Kerala floods calamity of severe nature: MHA
The massive flood in Kerala has been declared a calamity of severe nature, the Home Ministry said.
“Keeping in view the intensity and magnitude of the floods and landslides in Kerala, this is a calamity of a severe nature for all practical purposes,” a home ministry official said.
6:17pm IST
Production at two Apollo Tyres plants affected
Production operations of the company’s plants located at Perambra and Kalamassery, Kerala have been disrupted due to the floods, Apollo Tyres said in a BSE filing.
6:00pm IST
Maharashtra sends medical team to Kerala
A team of 81 doctors from Mumbai and Pune left by an Air India flight on Monday with medical relief supplies to help the flood victims in Kerala.
Meanwhile, through efforts of various organisations coordinated by the state government, another five tonnes of relief supplies including food packs, milk powder, blankets, bedsheets, clothes, soaps and sanitary napkins will be sent to Kerala on Monday.
5:45pm IST
Kerala floods should be declared national disaster: Antony
Congress Working Committee member AK Antony demanded that the Centre immediately declare the Kerala floods as a national disaster. “When floods hit Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre said it was almost like a national disaster and Rs 1,000 crore was sanctioned. But when Kerala is facing the worst-ever natural calamity, just Rs 600 crore has been sanctioned, which is nothing in view of the huge damage caused in the state,” he said.
5:30pm IST
Centre asks industrialists, firms to extend help
Centre has asked industrialists, business organisations to extend help to Kerala in dealing with flood situation: Union minister Suresh Prabhu.
4:25pm IST
Relief items being distributed to flood victims
#KeralaFloods: Relief items including ration, clothing and sanitary items being distributed to flood victims. A medical camp has been set up by #105RAF for people requiring urgent treatment at Challakudi, Thrissur, Kerala. pic.twitter.com/ioJq9QQ4d7
— PIB India (@PIB_India) August 20, 2018
4:20pm IST
Priority right now is health, sanitation: State health minister
“The chief minister has spoken to us and we have discussed the situation at hand.Our priority right now is health and sanitation. We have all the resources required to help the people and we also urge them to come forward if they have any issue related to the same,” says Kerala health minister KK Shailaja.
4:00pm IST
SGPC sends flood relief material
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) is sending flood relief material for people affected due to Kerala floods. Two relief camp teams are being sent; one by road and the other by air: ANI.
3:45 pm IST
243 motorised, 24 non-motorised, 21 hired boats deployed: Defence ministry
Around 30,000 people have been successfully rescued by Indian Armed Forces in flood -affected areas while 3,500 people have been provided medical aid.
Update #KeralaFloodRelief efforts:
243 motorised, 24 non-motorised and 21 hired boats from @adgpi , @indiannavy & @IndiaCoastGuard have been deployed to enable effective movement of citizens to safer locations and relief camps.#KeralaFloods@nsitharaman pic.twitter.com/rXgG8qlGmZ
— Raksha Mantri (@DefenceMinIndia) August 20, 2018
3:26 pm IST
‘Operation Madad’: Army rescues 1850 people
The Engineer Task Force of 202 Engineer Regiment of the Army rescued total of 1850 personnel including patients, children , ladies and senior citizens. Provided food, water, clothing, medicines.
#Update#Keralafloods2018 Engineer Task Force of 202 Engineer Regiment rescued total of 1850 personnel including patients, children , ladies and senior citizens. Provided food, water, clothing, medicines. We are at it. #OpMadad #KeralaFloodRelief @PIB_India @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/1j9jkf8qyP
— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) August 20, 2018
3:05 pm IST
Open call centre for Bengali migrants: WB Congress president urges PM
West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open a call centre in Bengali language to assist migrant workers from Bengal who were trapped in flood ravaged Kerala.
Language is a great barrier for Bengali speaking migrants in Kerala and they would not be able to express their condition as well as communicate to their families back home, Chowdhury wrote in a letter to the prime minister.
3:00 pm IST
Telangana IAS officers to donate a day’s salary
Telangana IAS Officers’ Association on Monday said it has resolved to contribute at least one day salary of the serving officers to the Kerala chief minister’s relief fund.
2:50 pm IST
Ramdev sends relief material
“Relief material worth Rs.50 Lakh has been sent to flood affected areas of #Kerala & #Karnataka & we will be sending material worth Rs.1.5 crore more. Nation is proud of the rescue & relief operations conducted by our security forces in the flood affected areas” tweeted ANI quoting Yoga Guru Ramdev.
2:30 pm IST
90% rescue operations completed, says CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said that 90% of the rescue is over, and over 10 lakh people have been moved to relief camps.
2:25 pm IST
NDMA advises caution
2:18 pm IST
Puducherry govt staff to donate one day salary
The government employees in Puducherry have decided to contribute their one day salary to the Kerala flood relief fund, reports PTI.
2:15 pm IST
Relief material arrives at Kochi Naval Base
Relief material from different parts of the country has started arriving at the port here to provide some succour to the people of Kerala devastated by unprecedented floods in about a century, officials said on Monday, reports PTI.
A Cochin Port Trust official said Naval Ship INS Deepak, carrying relief material from Mumbai, arrived with about 800 tonnes of fresh water and nearly 18 tonnes of provisions
2:05 pm IST
70 teams part of rescue efforts, says Army
“Around 70 teams are present there with boats, life vests and food packets. Places where light and helicopters can’t reach, my boys have reached,” ANI quotes General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, Lt Gen DR Soni as saying.
1:50 pm IST
Authorities bury carcasses of animals to contain epidemic
Authorities are collecting carcasses of animals and burying them in order to contain epidemic.
1:42 pm IST
CJI Dipak Misra, SC judges to contribute to Kerala aid
SC judges will also contribute to Kerala flood relief fund, says chief justice of India Dipak Misra.
1:40 pm IST
Relief camps overstretched
More than 10 lakh people have been moved to relief camps now, says CM Pinarayi Vijayan. As numbers increase, the situation at the camps gets tough given the strain on resources.
1:33 pm IST
Police given powers to arrest people not leaving homes
Police have been given special powers to arrest people unwilling to leave their submerged houses. Many have asked for food and ration but refuse to leave their homes.
1:30 pm IST
Life in Idukki gradually moving back to normalcy
Life in Idukki is gradually moving back to normalcy. ATM services have resumed. Work is in progress to re-establish connectivity and restore communication.
12:55 pm IST
1 million people in relief camps: Tourism minister
As the rescue and relief operations continue in flood-hit Kerala, Union tourism minister KJ Alphons on Monday said that the authorities have housed at least one million people in scores of relief camps set up by the administration across the state, reports ANI.
12:50 pm IST
Malayalis in J’khand cancel Onam fete, start donation drive
A Malayali association in Jamshedpur has decided to cancel Onam celebrations this year in view of the devastating floods in Kerala that claimed over 200 lives and rendered more than seven lakh people homeless.
12:45 pm IST
3757 medical camps set: Union minster JP Nadda
Till now, 3757 medical camps have been setup in Kerala. There is requirement of 90 different medicines and first installment has reached. Issued advisory for daily monitoring and surveillance. Quick response medical teams to start work as soon as water recedes, tweeted ANI, quoting Union minster JP Nadda.
12:40 pm IST
9-year-old Tamil Nadu girl donates savings
A 9-year-old girl from a town in Tamil Nadu parted with her savings of four years meant for a bicylce, for Kerala flood relief. The girl’s gesture moved a premier cycle manufacturer, who has now promised her to gift the cycle of her dreams.
12:25 pm IST
Fear of spread of disease, say health authorities
Health authorities prepared defences against the spread of disease in flood-hit Kerala state on Monday as water receded and a huge clean-up gathered pace after the worst floods.
12:15 pm IST
Challenge shifts from rescue to relief
As rescue operations in Kerala on Monday entered its final stages, the biggest challenge before the authorities in the flood aftermath turned into managing the over 5,500 relief camps housing more than 7,00,000 people across the state, reports IANS.
12:00 pm IST
Venkaiah Naidu holds review meeting, donates one month salary
Vice president of India Venkaiah Naidu called a review meeting on Kerala floods with deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh and other senior officials of Rajya Sabha and vice president secretariat and decided to donate a month’s salary for relief measures.
11:55 am IST
Coimbatore’s CRPF Wife’s Welfare Association sends aid
Regional CRPF Wife’s Welfare Association in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore flagged off relief materials consisting of dry rations, clothing, medicines, sanitary items in 12 trucks with Rapid Action Force (RAF) team to Kerala’s Thrissur and Chalakudy, reports ANI.
11:50 am IST
Four express trains to run as per normal schedule
Nizamuddin- Ernakulam Mangala Lakshadweep Express, Mangalore-Nagercoil Parasuram Express, Jamnagar–Tirunelveli Express and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus -Thiruvananthapuram Netravathi Express from Shoranur junction to run as per normal schedule, reports ANI.
11:45 am IST
Chhattisgarh IPS and SPS officers donate one day salary
Extending support to flood-hit people of Kerala, senior police officers of Chhattisgarh will donate one day salary to the victims. The officers include all Indian Police Officers (IPS) and State Police Services (SPS), who are posted in the state.
11:35 am IST
Navy rescues 109 people in Thrissur
Indian Navy rescue team joined six ropes across a stream in Thrissur on Sunday rescuing 109 people who were stranded on the other side after the bridge over it collapsed, reports ANI.
11:25 am IST
Shiv Sena MPs, MLAs to contribute one month salary
All MPs and MLAs of Shiv Sena will contribute their one month salary to Kerala chief minister’s relief fund, reports ANI.
11:15 am IST
Don’t need clothes/food, need electricians, plumbers, carpenters: KJ Alphons
“There’ll be no electricity in homes. Carpentry, plumbing would be gone. We need hundreds of thousands of electricians, plumbers, carpenters to rush to Kerala. We don’t need clothes/food.Ppl with technical capabilities are reqd to put life back into Kerala,” tweeted ANI quoting Union minister KJ Alphons.
11:10 am IST
Biggest heroes are fisherman, says Union minister KJ Alphons
Quoting Union minister KJ Alphons, ANI tweeted, “Today we have close to a million people in relief camps. District collectors are working as coordinators & providing supplies. Central forces are providing amazing service to Kerala. Biggest heroes are fishermen,they came in 600 boats&are rescuing people:”
10:55 am IST
Bodies found as floods recede
Receding flood waters left troops and rescuers the grim task Monday of hunting for bodies left by the worst monsoon in a century in Kerala, reports AFP.
10:25 am IST
Indian NGO in America raises USD 10,000 for relief
Sewa International, an Indian non-profit organisation in America, has raised over USD 10,000 for the flood relief operations in the deluge-hit Kerala, reports PTI.
10:15 am IST
‘Thanks’ note painted on roof of Kochi house
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.
10:10 am IST
Indian Coast Guard continues rescue operations
Indian Coast Guard continues relief and rescue operations across Kerala, reports ANI.
10:05 am IST
55 doctors from Mumbai, 26 from Pune leave for Thiruvananthapuram
55 doctors from Mumbai’s JJ Hospital, 26 doctors from Pune’s Sassoon hospital and paramedical staff leave for Thiruvananthapuram in two Air India aircraft.
10:00 am IST
No heavy rainfall for next 5 days: IMD
It is expected that for the next five days there won’t be heavy rainfall in Kerala, rainfall will gradually decrease over the state, said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, India Meteorological Department.
9:10 am IST
2 BSF boats from Vizag to reach Thiruvananthapuram
2 BSF boats from Vizag will reach Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, tweeted National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
9:05 am IST
60T medicines from Hindon, 70 doctors from Mumbai sent to Thiruvananthapuram
60T medicines from Hindon and 70 doctors and 30 personnel with medicines from Mumbai have been sent to Thiruvananthapuram, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
9:00 am IST
28.5 T relief material from Mumbai, 4T food from Mysore
28.5 T food and relief material is being moved from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram, while 4T packaged food from Mysore is being moved to Thiruvananthapuram, tweeted National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
8:50 am IST
50 RO plants, 7T* milk powder moved from Hyderabad
50 RO plants and 7T milk powder from Hyderabad, and 33T food packets from Halwara were moved to Thiruvananthapuram, tweeted National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
*1T=1000 kg
8:40 am IST
First commercial flight lands at Kochi Naval Air Station
First commercial flight lands at INS Garuda Kochi Naval Air Station after Cochin International Airport got affected due to floods, reports ANI.
8:35 am IST
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MPs to donate one month salary
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MPs to donate their one month salary to Kerala chief minister’s distress relief fund, reports ANI.
8:20 am IST
Telangana Dy CM to donate one month’s salary
Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali has decided to donate his one-month salary to flood-hit Kerala state.
8:10 am IST
Assam to give Rs 3 cr to Kerala for flood relief
Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday said his state would give Rs 3 crore aid to rain-ravaged Kerala, where 210 have died in the last 10 days.
