Rajnath Singh visits flood-hit Kerala, announces Rs.100-crore immediate aid
Thiruvanthapuram, Aug 13 (IBNS) : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who carried out an aerial survey of Kerala’s flood-affected areas on Sunday, described the calamity as "unprecedented" and announced an immediate aid of Rs. 100 crore even as the state demanded a package of more than Rs 8,000 crore, media reports said.
The Minister said the immediate assistance of Rs 100 crore was apart from the aid of Rs 160.50 crore announced earlier.
Singh also assured the state of all help to tackle the situation.
Singh, who conducted an aerial survey of Idukki and Ernakulam districts, said the rains and floods had caused "massive damage" to the farm sector and infrastructure like roads and power. The Chief Minister, Union Minister K J Alphons and senior officials accompanied him.
"Kerala is facing an unprecedented flood situation. It is unprecedented because never before in the history of independent India has Kerala witnessed such massive floods,” Singh said after reviewing the situation with Vijayan, Alphons, state ministers and senior officials.
However, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan submitted a memorandum to the visiting Union Home Minister, seeking Rs. 8,316 crore as a special package for dealing with the situation. The memorandum sought an immediate assistance of Rs. 1,220 from the national disaster relief fund.
He said landslides and flood have caused huge damage to life and property. Between August 9 and August 12, as many as 37 people have been killed. This south-west monsoon season has already claimed 186 lives. As many as 211 incidents of landslides were reported during the period.
He said the state would have face the impact of the monsoon havoc for a long time as 10,000 km of road managed by the state public works department had been damaged.
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