Rain abates, red alert lifted

Over 7 lakh displaced

Focus on food, medicine, fuel

Fears of disease in relief camps

Relief for travellers

Govt monitors airfares to and from Kerala

Ops intensified in worst-hit areas

Unsung heroes emerge as rains ravage state

Pope prays for victims

(With inputs from agencies)

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 with the red alert being lifted in several districts.The IMD said that the rainfall intensity over Kerala has decreased over the past two days, adding there is no alert of heavy precipitation for the next four days in the state.The number of those displaced in the torrential rains was put at 7.24 lakh by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who said most of the affected had been rescued and the government's focus would now be their rehabilitation.Thirteen people lost their lives today and 7,24,649 lakh people were in 5,645 relief camps, he told reporters after a review meeting.Around 22,000 people were rescued today in the operations launched by the defence personnel, national and state disaster response forces, fishermen and local people. However, many are still stranded in their homes with no food and sheaths of water around them at various places in Alapuzha, Thrissur and Ernakulam districts.Live coverage: Kerala crisisWith lakhs of people taking shelter in relief camps, the government has directed the central ministries to focus on providing essential commodities and medicine and restoration of vital services.The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) in its review meeting directed that focus should now be on provision of emergency supplies of food, water, medicines and restoration of essential services such as power, fuel, telecom and transport links as flood water recedes in Kerala, an official spokesperson said.Anil Vasudevan, who handles disaster management at the Kerala health department, said authorities had isolated three people with chickenpox in one of the relief camps in Aluva town, nearly 250 km (155 miles) from state capital Thiruvananthapuram.He said the department was preparing to deal with a possible outbreak of water-borne and air-borne diseases in the camps, where an estimated a large number of people have taken shelter since the monsoon rains began three months ago.Commercial flight operations from Kochi, hit following the closure of its international airport due to flooding, would resume on Monday from the Naval airport to Coimbatore and Bengaluru, bringing some relief to travellers.The main Kochi international airport, the seventh busiest in the country, has been rendered non-functional from August 14 due to flooding and torrential rains, and would remain closed till August 26.The Centre said airfares for domestic direct flights to and from Kerala ranged from Rs 3,395 to Rs 6,999 on shorter routes and Rs 6,017 to Rs 10,000 on longer ones, amid allegations that passengers were being charged exorbitantly in the flood-hit state.The government clarified that higher airfares highlighted in some social media posts were for hopping and very long-duration flights.The NDRF, which has deployed a total of 58 teams in the state, said that rescue operations have been stepped up in a number of badly-affected locations."Though the condition is improving in some places as water has started receding, NDRF has scaled up its response in places which are still affected like Thiruvalla and Chengannur (Alappuzha), Aleva (Ernakulum) and parts of Idukki," a force spokesperson said.Thousands of people, including women, children and college students are working tediously at various centres across the state free of cost to gather essential materials, including food, medicines, clothes to send to relief camps.As soon as news of the devastating floods and the plight of the stranded came out, 600 odd fishermen immediately turned up with their country and mechanised boats to help rescue those marooned in various parts of the state.Pope Francis appealed to the international community to provide "concrete support" to tens of thousands of flood victims in Kerala, calling the deluge a "great calamity".Pope Francis prayed for the victims of the flooding at St Peter's Square, the Vatican News reported."The inhabitants of Kerala have been harshly struck by intense rains, which have caused flooding and landslides, with heavy loss of human life, with many people missing and displaced, with extensive damage to crops and homes," he said.