Thiruvananthapuram: With floods receding, more than a third of the 1.45 million inmates of various relief camps in Kerala have returned home since Tuesday, an official said. The trend shows the worst is over for the state that faced torrential rains and damage to assets since the middle of the second week of August, and challenges now include quick restoration of electricity and water connections to homes as well as repairing over 10,000 kilometres of highways.
The highest number of inmates in relief camps across the state was recorded on 21 August at 1.45 million. “This has now come down to 9.5 lakh as on Friday,” said the official quoted above on the condition of anonymity. For people, the challenge is to remove mud and sand deposited in their houses and ensure there are no short circuits.
Besides the Rs 600 crore emergency relief to the state, the Central government has offered Rs 2 lakh per person to the kin of the diseased and Rs 50,000 to the seriously injured.
The state government is currently preparing a comprehensive Rs 2,600 crore rehabilitation and reconstruction proposal, which will be given to the Central government. The state will also seek liberal allocation towards centrally sponsored schemes, including the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA).
State Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told Mint on Thursday that the state planned to critically review its policies to assess how sensitive they were to environmental concerns and draw up a long-term plan for sustainable development.