Central assistance

The central assistance of Rs 500 crore as announced by Prime Minister Narendra for the flood-affected Kerala was released to the government of Kerala on Tuesday. An additional Rs 100 crore was also released for Kerala as announced by Union home minister Rajnath Singh .

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), home to hundreds of thousands of Keralites, pledged Rs 700 crore on Tuesday for relief work in Kerala, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced.

Vijayan's demands

Kerala sought a Rs 2,600 crore special package from the Centre on Tuesday as the state struggled to find its feet after the devastating deluge in which over 200 lives were lost and over 10 lakh people have been forced out of their homes.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan chaired a meeting of the state cabinet, which decided to seek a special package from the Centre under the centrally-sponsored schemes including the latter's flagship rural employment programme MNREGS.

CM Vijayan said they would ask the Centre to allow Kerala to increase the market borrowings from 3 per cent of the state's total revenue to 4.5 per cent. As a result an additional Rs 10,000 crore can be raised.

GST relief

The Centre extended the last date for filing of GST returns for taxpayers registered in flood hit Kerala, Mahe (Puducherry) and Kodagu district of Karnataka. The revenue department has also exempted basic customs duty and Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST) on import/supply of goods for flood relief in Kerala.

The due date of filing of GST summary sales returns in Form GSTR 3B for July has been extended to October 5 from August 20 for the flood affected areas.

On Tuesday, the Centre also waived off customs and import duty on all materials arriving from abroad.

Rescue ops on

Both central and state agencies besides NGOs continued to rescue those still stranded in flooded areas and provide relief on a massive scale in Kerala.

Over 24,000 people have been evacuated till now from the flood affected regions of Kerala even as 41 NDRF teams are still undertaking relief and rescue operations in the state, a force spokesperson said.

"The force has rescued 535 people and evacuated 24,616 marooned people to safer places. 119 animals were also evacuated and pre-hospital treatment was provided to 4,908 people till now," he said.

In Neliyamapathy in Palakkad district, helicopters ferried pregnant women and others seeking medical help from a marooned spot while dumping food for more than 1,000 people still cut off after roads in the region were severely damaged. In Chengannur, the last of those trapped in water-logged places were rescued, said local legislator Saji Cherian.

Police takes charge

The Kerala Police on Tuesday took charge of all the 3,000 relief camps in the state. Police chief Loknath Behra warned that appropriate action would be taken against all traders who jack up prices of essential commodities.

"There will be no leniency shown to such people and those who engage in spreading fake messages and news. Already a few are behind the bars," he said.

No disease outbreak

Reviewing the relief work, Union health minister J P Nadda held a meeting on Tuesday and said no outbreak of communicable disease has been reported from the flood-ravaged districts of Kerala, so far.

The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has issued health advisories to support the state in meeting with post-flood public health management challenges when the threat of water borne, vector borne and viral hepatitis diseases becomes potent.

The health ministry sent 65 metric tonnes of essential emergency drugs for flood-hit Kerala. 12 public health teams have also been constituted for 12 worst-affected districts of the state. Ten specialist medical teams have also been constituted, and psycho-social teams from NIMHANS are ready for deployment as and when requested by the state government, the ministry said.

Air connectivity

Flight operations from the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), which has suffered an estimated loss of over Rs 220 crore due to floods, are expected to resume from August 26, airport officials said.

The airport, which is among the busiest in the country, had been rendered non-functional since August 14 due to flooding and torrential rains.

Meanwhile, the Naval Air Station, INS Garuda, commenced civil aircraft operations from Monday. Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, was able to operate two flights to Bengaluru and one flight to Coimbatore. An Indigo flight also did a trial landing and will also undertaking flying operations.

Road connectivity

Train traffic on all major routes earlier disrupted due to damage to tracks by floods has been restored, railways minister Piyush Goyal said today. Almost all train services, except for a few for want of pairing rakes, have been restored in the state.

The railway ministry said three divisions of the southern rRailway were severely affected by flash floods, landslides and due to boulders falling on tracks.

HQ and divisional team of about 30 officers, 45 supervisors and about 450 railway staffers worked round the clock braving rain and water in adverse conditions to restore the tracks.

(With agency inputs)

