With Kerala's death toll rising, Modi hopes for Kerala's recovery
With the death toll in Kerala rising, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his hope that the annual Onam harvest festival will give Kerala's people the strength to cope with their adversities. The death toll in the floods, which began August 8, has risen to 265 as per latest estimates, with the tourist favourite Idukki district being hit the hardest. Here's more.
The worst affected districts in Kerala
As far as the district-wise break down of the death toll is concerned, Idukki was by far the worst with 51 deaths. Meanwhile, Thrissur reported 43 deaths, Ernakulam 38, Alappuzha 34, and Malappuram 30. Additionally, 36 people are still missing.
Modi says he hopes Onam gives "further strength" to Kerala
In a tweet, PM Modi said that the "entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with Kerala", adding that he hopes that Onam gives "further strength" to Kerala's already resilient and brave population. Notably, government celebrations planned for Onam were cancelled by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan earlier, and the funds were diverted to relief and rescue efforts.
PM Modi: The nation stands with Kerala
Reconstruction efforts in Kerala are in full swing
Meanwhile, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts are in full swing. According to the latest data from the Chief Minister's Office, 131,683 or 31% of flood-hit houses have been cleaned, while 23.36 lakh of the 25.6 lakh disrupted electricity connections have been restored. Additionally, 14,314 of the 16,158 transformers affected by the rains and the floods have also been restored to working order.
The government's plans for compensation
Insofar as compensation is concerned, a total of Rs. 10,000 would be transferred to the 3.91 lakh flood-affected families' bank accounts, with Rs. 242.73cr of that amount coming from the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF). Additionally, the government is also considering giving out Rs. 10 lakh interest-free loans to flood-affected small scale industries in a bid to help them recover.
How the government plans to help restore documents
On the documentation front, the government has said that certificates and important documents that were lost in the floods would be retrieved from the databases of various departments and restored to the people. IT and other departments are developing software for the same, the government added. Adalats are also slated to be held in the first week of September to facilitate faster document recovery.
