CM urges Keralites outside to donate one month’s salary

As relief and rehabilitation work is on in flood-ravaged Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday urged all Keralites to donate one month’s salary each to rebuild the State, where the toll has now touched 302 and over four lakh are still in relief camps.

In many districts, people have started moving from camps to their homes after cleaning work has been completed. The receding flood waters had left mounds of mud and debris in their homes and surroundings. The toll today climbed to 302 with more bodies being recovered, a government press release said here.

Vijayan also reviewed ongoing relief operations and later saluted the services of the various central forces which had played a vital role in relief and rescue operations.

At a formal farewell function tonight, he handed over citations to various senior officials and men in uniform and said 'We could directly witness the bold initiatives they took to rescue those who were stranded in the flood waters'.

Kerala Governor P Sathasivam met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Delhi yesterday and apprised him of the situation in the state.

The Prime Minister assured the Governor that Kerala would get more central funds from the National Disaster Response Fund as per laid down procedure and that the Rs 600 crore central aid released so far was only the advance assistance.

There are still 4.62 lakh people in 1,435 relief camps.

At least three lakh houses have been cleaned so far.

Modi in his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio address today, hailed the humanitarian assistance rendered to victims of Kerala floods by people from all walks of life, saying irrespective of age group or area of work, people are contributing for the cause. He also put on record his appreciation for the role rendered by the Army, Air Force, Navy, NDRF, BSF, CISF and the RAF in relief and rescue operations.

"Yesterday was the festival of Onam.

We pray for Onam to provide strength to the country, especially Kerala, so that it returns to normalcy on a newer journey of development."

As Kerala struggles to stand on her feet, water logging of homes in various places, especially in Kuttanad region of the worst-hit Alapuzha district continues to be a worrying factor. Huge pumps will be used to flush out water from homes and premises, after which the cleaning process will be taken up by removing the accumulated silt, authorities said.

Vijayan, who had accompanied Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh during the aerial surveys, said they were touched by the intensity of the devastation and he hoped that the Centre would provide more funds. Opposition leader in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala said more central funds are needed for Kerala and there was nothing wrong in accepting foreign aid to help rebuild the state.