Kerala floods have taken upto 370 lives since August 9.
Remember the time when in Kedarnath huge floods came and a lot of people died. Well, another dangerous flood has occurred and it is the worst one observed since 1924. The same devastating floods have hit the state of Kerala. Kerala floods can be deemed as one of the worst calamities in nearly a century, over 370 people died while 320,400 were displaced and 14 districts were placed on high alert.
The danger is still there as rains are predicted weather stations to continue in several districts of Kerala. There are thousands of people who have lost their homes. Many hundred crores worth of property has been destroyed till now. The Kerala which is also called as one of the most beautiful places in India has certainly been stained badly with these floods.
35 out of 42 dams in the state were opened for the first time in history and all five gates of the Cheruthoni Dam were opened at the same time after a gap of 26 years. Heavy rains in Wayanad has left the hilly district isolated.
Impact of the floods
It has been reported that more than 190 people have died due to the Kerala floods.
The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority has placed the state in a red alert as a result of the intense flooding. A number of water treatment plants were forced to cease pumping water, resulting in poor access to clean water, especially in northern districts of the region.
At least 350 relief camps have been opened at various places to help the affected people. The flooding has affected hundreds of villages, destroyed an estimated 10,000km of roads and thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed. On 12 August, when 30,000 people were already staying in relief camps, 13,000 of them were in the district of Wayanad, the worst to be hit.
Most of the schools have been closed while tourists have been banned in some districts due to the Kerala floods. The Government has cancelled Onam (local festival) celebrations, whose allocated funds have been reallocated to relief efforts.
Relief Work
There have been 52 rescue teams of central forces including units of the Indian Army and the Indian Navy assisting the civilian administration in rescue work and restoration. In addition to the 10 teams of the National Disaster Response Force, four additional teams were airlifted from Guntur and Arakkonam to assist the Ernakulam district administration.
Along with all this, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly said to give 500 crore Rupees for the relief work in Kerala. This is certainly a big and a very good step our prime minister.
According to the latest official figures, more than 200,000 people have been lodged in over 1,500 relief camps across 14 districts.
