Rains Continue To Wreak Havoc Across Kerala, PM Announces Rs 500 Crore Interim Relief

Unprecedented rains continue to wreak havoc across Kerala and have brought the coastal state to a standstill. PM Modi, after chairing a review meeting and conducting an aerial survey, announced an additional relief of Rs 500 crore for the state.

HERE ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS

• Omar Abdullah to donate a month's salary to the relief efforts in flood-ravaged Kerala.

• Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar extended a financial aid of Rs 10 crore.

• NDRF launches biggest-ever operation in flood-hit Kerala, 58 teams deputed.

• Red alert issued in 11 districts in Kerala. The weatherman has predicted heavy rains and gusty winds in various parts of the state.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an immediate financial assistance of Rs 500 crore to the rain-battered Kerala, after reviewing the flood situation in the state.

• PM Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh per person to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those seriously injured from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).

• Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh speaks to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, offers all possible help from Chhattisgarh government.

• Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani announces Rs 10 crores from chief minister's relief fund for flood-hit Kerala.

• Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis announces Rs 20 crore as immediate assistance from Maharashtra government for Kerala floods.

• IAS officers from Telangana decide to donate their one day's salary towards chief minister's distress relief fund.

After a high-level review meeting in Kochi, the prime minister made an aerial assessment of the damage caused due to floods in some of the affected areas of the southern state.

Kerala has been witnessing incessant rainfall over the last few days, causing unprecedented flooding and landslides in several parts of the state. So far, 324 people have lost their lives in the state due to flood, according to a tweet by the Chief Minister Office (CMO) of Kerala.

According to the Home Ministry's National Emergency Response Centre (NERC), over 2,11,000 people in 14 districts have been badly hit by the rains and floods, and over 32,500 hectares of crops damaged.

Agencies