NEW DELHI: Union tourism minister K J Alphons on Tuesday flagged the need for ready-to-eat cooked food, doctors and nurses in flood ravaged Kerala , saying people are now getting back to whatever is left of their homes with the waters receding.

The minister also issued an appeal to skilled workers like plumbers, electricians and carpenters to come to make homes livable and help the state regain normalcy.

At least 216 people have lost their lives in the rains, floods and landslides and over 7.24 lakh people been displaced.

"As the flood is receding in Kerala people have to move to whatever is left of their homes. Need ready to eat cooked food, clothes and an army of electricians, plumbers and carpenters," Alphons said on Twitter on Tuesday, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah .

He issued a series of tweets highlighting the requirements of the people.

"I appeal to General Public: What Kerala requires... - pre-cooked individually packed dry food, an army of electricians, plumbers, carpenters to make homes livable.

"Doctors and nurses who can go down to the villages as there is apprehension about the possibility of outbreak of deceases. New clothes, if it can be distributed through NGOs," he said.

The minister also thanked the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) for providing the state huge quantities of tetra pack milk and public sector oil companies which came together and handed Rs 25 crore to the Kerala chief minister for flood relief.

The massive flood in Kerala has been declared a calamity of severe nature, the Union Home Ministry has said.

The lakhs of displaced have been sheltered in 5,645 relief camps.

