The Indian Navy recalled all rescue teams deployed for Kerala on August 22, calling off its Operation Madad after requests for rescue stopped coming.

The Indian Navy has rescued nearly 17,000 people from flood-ravaged Kerala, Commander Sridhar Warrier, the defence spokesperson in Kochi said.

The Indian Navy recalled all rescue teams deployed for Kerala on August 22, calling off its Operation Madad after requests for rescue stopped coming.

Operation Madad was launched on August 9 to assist the Kerala state administration to undertake disaster relief operations.

In all, the Indian Navy rescued a total of 16,843 people, of which 1,173 were airlifted while 15,670 were rescued by teams using Gemini boats after Kerala experienced unprecedented rainfall, which resulted in widespread flooding.

"No deaths by drowning were reported in any area where Naval teams systematically organised their rescue efforts," Warrier said.

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Warrier said a robust and efficient Command, Control and Logistics Organisation of the Southern Naval Command (SNC), coordinated by Joint Operation Centre (JOC), ensured naval personnel deployed in the worst-hit areas were utilised efficiently to rescue maximum number of people. SNC headquarters also coordinated with the Air Force headquarters for airlift of personnel and equipment from Mumbai and Visakhapatnam to Kochi.

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday appealed to Malayalis across the world to contribute at least their salary of one month to bring the state back to normalcy.

Making the appeal on Facebook, Vijayan said, "Malayalis should be united to build a new Kerala. Kerala's strength is not its treasury but support of the world."

Vijayan estimates it will take over Rs 20,000 crore to nurse Kerala back to normalcy. This is more than half the state's entire Rs 37,248 crore plan outlay for this year and twice what it spends each year on roads and bridges.

On August 21, the central government had released Rs 600 crore as immediate relief to the Kerala government.

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The worst floods in close to a century submerged Kerala between August 8 and 16, killing over 400 persons and displacing over 720,000, roughly equal to the population of Puducherry.

In the month of August (1-20), the state received 771 mm of rainfall, 179 per cent more than usual. The incessant rain meant that 78 of the state's 80 dams, including the ones at Mullaperiyar and Idukki on the Western Ghats, were filled to the brim and hence forced to open their sluice gates. This sudden onrush of water led to the flooding of Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Thrissur districts downstream.

Over 40,000 hectares of farmland was submerged and 26,000 houses severely damaged and one of the state's three international airports at Kochi inundated by floodwaters. It's the first time in the history of the state that its highland, cities and lower plains were all hit by floods.

With PTI inputs

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