Kerala floods LIVE: 243 motorised, 24 non-motorised and 21 hired boats deployed to conduct rescue ops

Kerala floods latest updates: On Monday, the Indian Army, navy, and coast guard deployed 243 motorised, 24 non-motorised and 21 hired boats to conduct the rescue and relief operations in Kerala, said the defence ministry.

Asserting that the rescue operations in Kerala have not yet been called off, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, Lieutenant General DR Soni said they will make up for the shortcomings in the rescue operations.

Chief Justice Dipak Misra on Monday said that all Supreme Court judges will contribute to the Kerala flood relief fund, PTI reported. Earlier Attorney General KK Venugopal had donated Rs 1cr towards the relief fund.

As flood waters recede in Kerala, residents are greeted with decomposing carcasses of animals killed in the deadly floods that took the lives of 370 people so far. Hundreds of such carcasses have been found floating in water in Alappuzha and Chalakudy.

Union minister JP Nadda said that till now, 3,757 medical camps have been set up across flood-hit Kerala. He said there is a requirement of 90 different medicines and that the first batch has already reached.

Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu called a review meeting on Kerala floods with Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh and decided to donate a month’s salary for relief measures in the state.

The first batch of passengers arrived at INS Garuda Kochi Naval Air Station as commercial flights service began at the station due to flooding of Cochin International Airport. The district collector of Ernakulam in Kerala said on Monday that all rescue operations in the district have been completed. However, rescue efforts are going on in Kuttanad in Alappuzha where hundreds are still believed to be stranded.

Rainfall over Kerala during the South West Monsoon (June 1 to Aug 19) has been exceptionally high. Kerala has so far received 2346.6 mm rains against the normal of 1649.5 mm, according to IMD. High-range Idukki recorded the highest excess rainfall (92 percent above normal) followed by Palakkad (72 percent above normal).

Fifty-five doctors from JJ Hospital in Mumbai, and 26 doctors from Pune’s Sassoon hospital and paramedical staff will leave for Thiruvananthapuram in two Air India aircraft.

Railways restored passenger and express train services in the flood-hit Ernakulam district in Kerala due to “early completion of restoration works in the division”. The rise in water level in Periyar had a major impact on the flood situation with waters marooning many houses and commercial establishments in Aluva, Paravur and Perumbavoor.

With over 7.24 lakh people taking shelter in 5,645 relief camps, the government on Sunday directed the central ministries to focus on providing essential commodities and medicine and restoration of vital services in flood-hit Kerala.

In view of the grave situation in Kerala due to floods, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called off his proposed trip to the US for medical treatment, an official said on Saturday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said there is no alert for heavy showers for the next four days in the state, and that the intensity of rainfall had decreased over the past two days.

On Sunday, around 22,000 people were rescued in Kerala in the operations launched by the defence personnel, national and state disaster response forces, fishermen and local people. Meanwhile, Alliance Air’s first flight from Bengaluru has just landed at the Kochi Naval Air Base. Its a 70-seater small flight.

Commercial flights will resume operations from the Kochi naval base in Kerala from Monday, and all arrangements for logistics for this have been put in place, an official press release from the Centre. Only small commercial flights will begin operations from the naval base.

The deadly monsoon rains that savaged Kerala claimed 13 more lives on Sunday, taking the toll to 210 in the last ten days as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said most of the marooned had been rescued and the focus would now be on their rehabilitation.

In a big relief, there was respite from the rains in most parts of the state on Sunday after nearly two weeks of virtually non-stop downpour and the red alert has been lifted in several districts.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *