Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reviewed the flood situation in Kerala and announced an interim assistance of ₹500 crore against a demand of ₹2,000 crore made by the State government.
This is apart from the Central assistance of ₹100 crore pledged earlier. Mr. Modi also announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh each to the kin of the dead and ₹50,000 each to those seriously injured in the floods, both from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
The review meeting was held at the Southern Naval Command here. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Union Minister of State for Tourism K.J. Alphons, Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan, Chief Secretary Tom Jose, and Additional Chief Secretary and Relief Commissioner P.H. Kurien attended the meeting.
Mr. Vijayan informed Mr. Modi that preliminary estimates pegged the State’s losses due to the floods at ₹19,512 crore. The real extent of the destruction would be known after the floodwaters receded.
While Mr. Modi, who arrived from Thiruvananthapuram in the morning, was originally slated to do an aerial survey of the devastation before the review meeting, inclement weather forced the survey to be suspended. But he made a short aerial sortie along the Aluva-Thrissur stretch after the meeting.
“Since May 29, when the monsoon made landfall in Kerala, a total of 357 people have lost their lives. Crops in over 40,000 hectares have been lost and over 26,000 houses were either fully or partially damaged. The State has nearly 3,53,000 people sheltered in 3,026 relief camps right now,” Mr. Vijayan is reported to have told the Prime Minister
“In all, 46,000 livestock ls and over two lakh poultry died. PWD roads along 16,000 km and local roads along 82,000 km besides 134 bridges have suffered severe damage. While damage to the roads is estimated to have rendered the State poorer by ₹13,000 crore, loss of bridges costs another ₹800 crore,” the Chief Minister said.
He also sought an immediate allocation of 20 more helicopters, 600 motorised boats, 40 more teams of NDRF, four army engineer task forces, and 10 more Navy teams.
Mr. Modi urged insurance companies to hold special camps for assessment and timely release of compensation to the affected families and beneficiaries under the social security schemes.
He also issued directives for early clearance of claims under the Fasal Bima Yojana to agriculturists. The National Highways Authority of India was asked to repair damaged national highways on priority.
Central public sector units such as the NTPC and the PGCIL should render all possible assistance to the State government in restoring power lines.
Villagers, whose kutcha houses have been destroyed, would be provided Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) houses on priority irrespective of their priority on the permanent wait list of the PMAY-G.
Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme ₹5.5 crore person days were sanctioned in the labour budget for 2018-19. Further request for incurring the person days would be considered as per the requirement projected by the State. Under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, farmers would be provided assistance to re-plant damaged horticulture crops, the Prime Minister’s Office said.