The UAE has pledged $100 million for flood-battered Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced on Tuesday, adding “a new Kerala” needed to be built following the widespread destruction.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), home to hundreds of thousands of Keralites, has informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it would be providing $100 million for Kerala, Vijayan told the media.

“A new Kerala has to be built. At today’s cabinet meeting, it has been decided to submit a detailed list to the Centre,” he said.

“Funds are the prime requisite for this. This will be raised by us through various sources besides getting it from the Centre and other agencies,” he said.

“The Kerala diaspora has been a huge source of help for us. Since they have done tremendous service in the Middle East, it has helped build good relations with the governments there.

“Today morning, the UAE rulers informed our Prime Minister about their contribution for Kerala and this was conveyed to me by M.A. Yusuf Ali (who owns Lulu Supermarkets),” he said, thanking the Emirate for the timely help.

Vijayan said they would ask the Centre to allow Kerala to increase the market borrowings from 3 per cent of the state’s total revenue to 4.5 per cent. As a result an additional Rs 10,000 crore can be raised.

“We have decided to approach agencies like NABARD whose mandate includes providing for infrastructure and drinking water.

“We will demand a special package for the state,” said Vijayan.

Following the devastating floods, over one million people are now sheltered in 3,274 relief camps in the state. The death toll since the monsoon rains began on May 29 has been estimated at around 370.

Till Monday, the total contributions received to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund was Rs 210 crore while another Rs 160 crore has been pledged.

A special session of the Kerala Assembly has been called from August 30 to discuss the huge destruction caused by the worst flooding in nearly a century and to chart the future course of action.

The Kerala unit of CPI on Monday admonished Forest Minister P. Raju from the party for leaving for Germany last week when the state was in the grip of devastating floods and directed him to return immediately.

State Communist Party of India Secretary Kanam Rajendran told the media here that the party had taken a dim view of Raju’s trip abroad from August 16.

“He has been asked to return immediately,” said Rajendran.

Though there were murmurs within the CPI for strict action against Raju, informed sources said that a strict warning will be issued for his alleged callousness in going abroad when a calamity had struck Kerala.

[IANS]

The Public Works Department (PWD) has decided to open the Shiradi ghats for vehicular movement only after December due to the rampant landslides having virtually destroyed the roads.

According to a decision communicated to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the Shiradi ghat road, which was opened for vehicular movement on July 20, has been totally destroyed between Kempuhole and the Addahole. Keeping in mind the safety of the commuters, it has been decided to open the road only after repair works in the month of December. This means, the passengers have to now depend on the Charmadi ghat road, which is also facing the risk of landslides.

Meanwhile, the SWR is expected to resume train service between Bengaluru and Mangaluru via Hassan, in September first week after setting right about ten kms of railway track that was destroyed by the rains.

The devastating deluge in Kerala witnessed the emergence of fishermen as saviours when hundreds decided to brave through flood-waters to venture into areas where even naval commandos could not reach. This can also be an important case study world-wide for people in disaster management.

With about 600 country vessels, they ventured into the most remote corners of the affected areas. On Saturday, out of the 54,000 persons rescued in Ernakulam district, 18,000 were saved by fishermen who deployed 240 boats there.

Most of the fishermen came from the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Malappuram, Kannur, Trissur and Ernakulam.

Operating in their mechanised country boats in furious waters in places like Chengannur, Kuttanad, Chalakudy, Mala, Kodungallur, Aluva, North Paravur among others, they rescued thousands from houses and buildings where helicopters couldn’t reach.

When the single-engine country boats were finding it difficult to cut through the strong current, fishermen decided to deploy double-engine boats to wade through. Kerala Swanthantra Matsyathozhilali Federation has also set up regional centres to co-ordinate the mission. Each team on the field has been assigned a leader who has been directed to work with revenue authorities, police and disaster management team.

The fishermen also arranged their fuel and food expenses themselves before the state stepped in.

National Fish Workers Co-ordination forum secretary T Peter said the fishermen ventured into the rescue mission spontaneously. “When we put out the suggestion in social media groups, many fishermen expressed their willingness to join the rescue work. The fishermen took it up as their responsibility. When our social media groups got distress calls and messages about people stranded in submerged houses, we passed on the location details to the fishermen,” he said.

A control room has been opened at Chengannur by the fisheries department as per orders from the fisheries minister. The control room will co-ordinate rescue efforts undertaken by fishermen and their vessels. Staff of the department will be appointed as nodal officers at a ratio of one officer per 10 country boats. Sufficient boats have also been arranged for the boats by state-run agencies.

Acknowledging the fishermen’s service, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday announced that all the fishermen who took part in the rescue mission would be felicitated. “The fishermen had intervened in a great way. Many of their vessels got damaged. The government would compensate them for the loss suffered. Apart from that, a boat would be given Rs 3,000 a day and the state would meet the fuel expenses,’’ he said.

Death toll since end of May reaches 370, as fishermen aid rescue operations for the southern state’s ‘worst floods’.

More than 800,000 people have been displaced in Kerala, as the death toll from the worst flooding to hit the southern Indian state jumped to at least 370, with losses to infrastructure pegged at almost $3bn.

As the rains subsided on Sunday, relief efforts focused on rescuing those marooned in isolated places for days and airdropping supplies to others, police and officials said.

Kerala has been lashed by torrential monsoon rains since the end of May, triggering landslides and flash floods that have swept away entire villages. Incessant downpours since August 8 have killed more than 190 people and left thousands more stranded.

“In a matter of three to four days, we have been able to move nearly 850,000 people to shelters,” TM Thomas Isaac, Kerala’s finance minister, says finance minister.

“I think the total number of displaced persons, including those who have been moved to relatives’ or friends’ houses, would be well over 1.5 million,” he added in a phone interview from Alappuzha, Kerala.

On Sunday alone, 22,000 people were evacuated from their homes, but a large number of people continue to voluntarily live in flooded houses.

“We saw many people whose ground floors of their homes were knee and waist-deep in the water,” said Al Jazeera’s Andrew Thomas, reporting from Andoor.

“They are living upstairs because they want to stay where they are,” he said,

“So, the overall figure of people whose homes have been flooded and have been affected by this disaster is in the millions,” Thomas added. “It really is a huge disaster in this part of India.”

Thousands of army, air force and navy troops, along with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), are undertaking the search and rescue operations.

Fishermen from across Kerala have also come together to aid the relief efforts.

“The fisherfolk have played a very remarkable role,” said Isaac, Kerala’s finance minister. “About 500 fisheries boats have been at the forefront of the rescue and shifting operations.

“The fisherfolk have been able to move to interior lakes systems and rivers to help the people.”

On Saturday, fisherman Jaisal KP, a 32-year-old resident of Tanur, rescued three stranded women – one with an infant – in the Malappuram area.

Putting his back into it. Quiet literally. Jaisal KP a fisherman in Vengara puts himself in water so women and children can use his back as a step into the boat. 600 fisherman helping out in #KeralaFloods the unsung heroes. #Salute

“NDRF personnel who were leading the rescue operations informed us they won’t be able to reach the place where these women were stranded,” Jaisal.

“I, along with my co-workers [fishermen], helped them. We have no safety guards or any equipment. We are risking our lives to rescue these people.”

Anunand, 22, who was trapped for four days in Paravoor, was also saved by the fishermen.

“If it wasn’t for them [fishermen], I would’ve died inside the flat,” the graduate student told Al Jazeera in a phone interview.

On Monday, the military will continue to fly helicopters in order to drop aid materials in the more remote communities,

People wait for aid next to a make-shift raft at a flooded area in Kerala state [Sivaram V/Reuters]
Rebuilding
As of Sunday, two districts out of the state’s 14 were still under red alert.

The Indian government has pledged $71m for flood victims, but Isaac said the state will have to re-negotiate to get a “better deal”.

“One-third of the roads have been completely damaged and the cost of rebuilding them would come over $1bn rupees ($14.3m), so this is a very serious matter.”

Around 100,000 houses will also have to be rebuilt and large amounts of plastic rubbish – comprising mostly water bottles provided in aid packages and washed away by the floodwaters – will have to be cleared out, he added.

The state government will reach out to multinational agencies to rebuild the water systems, Isaac said.

“This calamity also points to some serious imbalance in development and the environmental consideration,” the finance minister added.

“Hope this disaster will prompt us to pick a more sustainable development path.”

The amount of rain that has fallen is unexpectedly high this year, according to Al Jazeera’s senior meteorologist Steff Gaulter.

“Normally, by this point in the monsoon season, we expect to see about 1,649mm of rain. But this year it was 2,344mm. This is well over what we’d expect in the entire monsoon season, and we still have another month to go,” she said.

The authority forecasted that the unstable weather that covers Mecca, Minna and Arafat would continue this night. The rain occurs while around two million pilgrims are residing in Minna in tents to mark the Day of Tarwiyah ritual.

No warning was issued concerning the safety of pilgrims who will leave for Arafat area by the dawn of Monday.

Al Arabiya’s images and videos on social media showed the Kaaba’s Kiswa, an embroidered cloth that wraps around Islam’s most sacred site, being moved out of place due to the high winds in Mecca on Sunday evening.

Hajj season is being managed in Saudi with tight security and high safety standards to ensure the wellbeing of pilgrims.

The Kerala government on Sunday informed the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) that the situation in the flood-ravaged state was gradually improving, even as some rainfall was forecast for the coastal state from Monday onwards.

The information was shared in an NCMC review meeting — the forth consecutive meeting since August 16 — which was attended by Secretaries of Defence, Health, Civil Aviation, Food Processing and Power Ministries, Chairman of Railway Board and senior officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The NCMC meeting is held to coordinate rescue and relief operations in Kerala.

“Kerala Chief Secretary (Tom Jose) participated in the NCMC meeting through videoconference. He said that the situation is gradually improving (in Kerala),” said the Union Home Ministry on Sunday.

A Ministry statement said that “India Meteorological Department has forecast less rainfall from Monday onwards in Kerala”.

Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha, during the meeting, directed all Ministries concerned to focus on emergency supplies of food, water, medicines and restoration of essential services as flood waters recede.

He said thousands of defence force personnel, NDRF and paramilitary forces were engaged in rescue and relief operations with support of dozens of helicopters, aircraft, and motorboats and the “operations will continue till the situation becomes normal”.

The Indian Railways said that two special trains will be run on Monday from Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam to Kolkata and that the train services are expected to be restored on all lines in Kerala by Monday evening.

The Railways said it would provide blankets and bedsheets to the affected people in Kerala.

“A train with 14,00,000 litres of water and a Navy ship with 800,000 litres of water will reach Kerala by Monday. Commercial flights will also start operating from Kochi Naval Base from Monday. All logistic arrangements have been put in place. Over 50,000 metric tonnes of food grains have made available, with more quantities in the pipeline. Arrangements are being made to airlift 100 metric tonnes of pulses by Mondy, with more to be sent by train.

“Over 9,300 kilolitres of kerosene has been made available while another 12,000 kilolitres will be allocated. The LPG bottling plant in Kochi has also been reopened,” the NCMC was told.

The Civil Aviation officials informed the NCMC that Air India has offered to airlift relief material free of cost, while the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that it was airlifting 60 tonnes of medicines on Monday and put six specialised medical teams on standby in the state.

The NCMC, which commenced its meetings on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directions, will meet again on Monday.

In the worst ever torrential rains in Kerala in this monsoon season, 370 lives have been lost and 724,649 persons evacuated to 5,645 camps so far.

At least five people were killed and 40 others injured as two quakes measuring 6.5 and 6.9 on the Richter scale jolted Indonesia’s Lombok Island where several previous tremors have already claimed over 400 lives since July, an official said on Monday.

The jolts on Sunday morning and night amplified damages resulted from the 6.4 and 7.0 magnitude quakes hitting the island earlier on July 27 and August 5, head of emergency unit of disaster management agency Agung Pramudja said.

The latest figure put the total death toll from the quakes since July 27 to at least 465.

The official said that a preliminary report indicated that at least 200 houses were seriously destroyed by the temblor.

“The shakes incited significant damages and many residents have fled home and taken shelters in makeshift encampment,” he told Xinhua.

The official said that the assessment of the further risks of the jolts is being undertaken.

No tsunami alert was issued.

The first quake struck the island at 11.10 a.m. with epicentre at 32 km East Lombok of West Nusa Tenggara province in western parts of the island and a depth of 10 km, the agency said.

The second one took place at 9.56 p.m. with an epicentre at 30 km northeast East Lombok district of West Nusa Tenggara province and a depth of 10 km, it said.

Indonesia is prone to quake as it lies on a vulnerable quake-hit zone of “the Pacific Ring of Fire”.

Four persons, including two schoolchildren, were killed and six others injured in three lighting strikes in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on Sunday, police said.

Two schoolkids and a fisherman died when lightning struck them while playing football in Mahishmari area of Sagar island. Five others were battling for their lives in serious condition in a rural hospital.

One fisherman was killed in the Patharpratima community development block.

Another person sustained serious injury in Raidighi community development block when he was struck by lightning.

A total of 4,225 marooned people have been rescued so far in Karnataka’s flood-hit Kodagu district even as incessant rains continued to hamper relief work, said an official on Sunday.

“Though the intensity of rainfall has reduced, the rainfall remained unabated. As of 3 p.m., 4,225 people in Kodagu district have been rescued and brought to safety through joint operations by state and central agencies,” a statement from the state disaster management authority said.

Of the rescued, 3,601 are staying in 36 relief shelters in the district.

The unabated rains, leading to flooding and landslips, have claimed eight lives so far in the region, the statement added.

The authorities, however, did not reveal the number of people stranded across the hilly district as communication lines were snapped due to landslides and damage to networks.

Several hundreds are suspected to be stranded in the district’s towns and villages on hilltops, which have been cut off due to landslides and damaged roads.

Located in the Western Ghats mountain ranges, this coffee-growing district, about 270 km from Bengaluru, is the worst-hit due to the south-west monsoon rains since June first week.

About 123 km of roads are estimated to be damaged due to the rains, while more than 800 homes have been destroyed. Most of the district’s arterial roads have been damaged due to landslides, delaying the rescue operations, officials said.

The heavy rains in coastal district of Dakshina Kannada have claimed one life, forcing nearly 800 people to live in temporary shelters, the statement added.

Over 60 people have been stranded in Mukkodlu village of Kodagu district, but airlifting them has not been possible due to the bad weather, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had earlier said.

About 50 Dogra Regiment soldiers, 12 expert naval divers, 62 officials from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 750 fire services officials and Home guards with boats and hundreds of volunteers have been carrying out relief work in the district.

In all, 1,194 specialised rescuers from state and central agencies are on job.

“Bread and other dry eatables and rations have been airdropped in the inaccessible villages of the district,” the statement said.

The Chief Minister on Sunday toured across the district and visited relief camps and affected villages in the district.

Revenue Minister R.V. Deshpande, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister H.D. Revanna and district in-charge minister Sa Ra Mahesh visited the villages and towns severely affected by the flood.

About 300 people were rescued on Saturday, including 30 senior citizens and 50 children.

Hundreds of volunteers from state capital Bengaluru and across the state have been gathering relief material, including dry food, water, milk, clothing, medicines, etc., which are being sent to those in the temporary shelters.

Over the last 24 hours, the district received an average rainfall of 5.4 cm, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Few parts of the district received rain upto 11.5 cm.

The rainfall, however was “moderate” from the earlier “very heavy” rains the district received till Friday, the IMD said.

The water being released from Harangi reservoir in the district across Harangi river, one of Cauvery’s tributaries, has been adding to the flooding of towns and villages in the region.

The state-run Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on Sunday resumed all its intra-state bus services towards Kodagu and Mangaluru and inter-state services towards Kerala.

The bus services were suspended in the past few days to Kodagu, Mangaluru and flood-hit Kerala due to the landslips and damaged roads caused by the rains.

The South Western Railway’s (SWR) train services were, however, cancelled or partially suspended and diverted between Yesvantpur in Bengaluru and Kochuveli in Thiruvananthapuram, Mangaluru to Karwar in Uttara Kannada due to landslides and floods.

The SWR on Sunday transported relief material including water, food, milk and clothing for thousands of people living in shelters in neighbouring Kerala via train from Bengaluru.