Prime Minister arrives in Kerala capital ## Prime Minister arrives in Kerala capital

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Friday night to see for himself the rain-battered Kerala and also survey the relief and rescue operations.

Torrential rains, overflowing rivers and a series of landslides have resulted in the death of 174 people, leaving over three lakh people in over 2,000 relief camps.

The Prime Minister was received by Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his cabinet colleagues among others.

He will spend the night at the Kerala Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the Governor.

On Saturday, Modi along with Vijayan will make an aerial survey of the worst affected districts. Before returning to Delhi from Kochi, the Prime Minister will chair a meeting to discuss the grave situation in the state.

Earlier in the day Modi had tweeted "Later this evening, I will be heading to Kerala to take stock of the unfortunate situation due to flooding."

"Had a telephone conversation with Kerala Chief Minister...We discussed the flood situation across the state and reviewed rescue operations."

Aug 17, 2018 11:37 PM

Army, Navy rescue marooned people in Karnataka's flood-hit district ## Army, Navy rescue marooned people in Karnataka's flood-hit district

Indian Army troops and Navy divers joined the national and state disaster relief forces to rescue hundreds of people marooned in Karnataka's flood-hit Kodagu district, said an official statement on Friday.

"About 60 Dogra Regiment soldiers and 12 expert naval divers rescued 873 marooned people in the flood-hit district, where overnight heavy rains caused landslides and inundated low-lying areas at Makkanduru," said the statement from the Chief Minister's office.

Kodagu, about 250 km from Bengaluru, is one of the districts in the southern state worst hit by the south-west monsoon rains since June first week.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is visiting Kodagu on Saturday to assess the situation and review relief operations in the district, where landslides claimed four lives since Thursday.

"Kumaraswamy will visit the rain-hit areas in the district and review the rescue and relief operations with officials," said another official statement released by the Chief Minister's office on Friday night.

The Chief Minister also directed district in-charge Sa Ra Mahesh to rush relief materials to Kodagu from Mysuru.

The Army's engineering task force deployed 73 boats, equipment and rafts in rescuing the people and escorting them to safer places in the district.

About 60 members of the national and state disaster relief forces and 45 members of the civil defence joined the rescue and relief operations with boats and equipment in Madikeri in the hilly district.

"Though the Indian Air Force (IAF) aborted rescue mission due to inclement weather, it will fly M17 chopper from Mysuru on Saturday to rescue the remaining stranded and transport relief supplies," noted the statement.

About 200 personnel of the state fire service had rescued people in flood-hit towns and villages across the district with their boats and equipment.

"Telecom services, disrupted due to rains and strong winds uprooting poles and snapping phone lines, are being restored on priority. HAM operators have been deployed as back-up. Power lines are also being restored," said the statement.

Aug 17, 2018 11:32 PM

Army rescues citizens of Ernakulam ## Army rescues citizens of Ernakulam

Aug 17, 2018 10:59 PM

Aug 17, 2018 10:51 PM

Aug 17, 2018 10:50 PM

Andhra Pradesh announces Rs 10 crore aid to rain-battered Kerala ## Andhra Pradesh announces Rs 10 crore aid to rain-battered Kerala

Andhra Pradesh government tonight announced a financial assistance of Rs 10 crore to rain-ravaged Kerala.

Expressing grief over the devastation, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said his government would extend all possible help to Kerala.

"Our moral support will always be there. We will also help the state in kind and other ways as well," the chief minister said in a statement.

He hoped that the situation in the state would return to normal soon.

Aug 17, 2018 10:48 PM

Telangana announces Rs 25 crore aid for flood-hit Kerala ## Telangana announces Rs 25 crore aid for flood-hit Kerala

The Telangana government on Friday announced Rs 25 crore financial assistance to the flood-hit Kerala.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao directed Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi to ensure that this amount reached Kerala immediately.

As the drinking water is getting polluted due to floods in Kerala, he asked officials to despatch R.O machines worth Rs 2.50 crore.

Rao appealed to industrialists, businessmen and others to come forward and help Kerala.

According to a statement from the Chief Minister's office, if donations are given to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, arrangements will be made to send them to Kerala.

Aug 17, 2018 10:15 PM

Goa Church urges prayers, donations for Kerala flood hit ## Goa Church urges prayers, donations for Kerala flood hit

In the wake of massive floods in Kerala, in a public appeal to Catholics in the state, the Roman Catholic Church in Goa on Friday urged its flock to offer prayers as well as donations for those affected by the natural calamity in the southern state, which has claimed at least 174 lives over the last few days.

"In this hour of pain, we need to reach out to our brothers and sisters in distress, not only through our prayer, but also materially... The Church in Goa would like to express its solidarity and sympathy with the thousands of people who have lost their homes and other possessions," Archbishop of Goa Fr. Filipe Neri Ferrao said in a circular issued on Friday.

"We call upon our pastors as well as superiors of educational and other religious institutions to announce the contents of this circular at Sunday masses and regular meetings and thus enable everyone to take part in this drive of the Church in Goa to bring relief to our suffering brethren in Kerala," Ferrao said.

Aug 17, 2018 10:10 PM

ICICI bank gives Rs 10 crore to Kerala flood relief,waive penalties ## ICICI bank gives Rs 10 crore to Kerala flood relief,waive penalties

Private sector lender ICICI Bank today said it has waived off late payment penalties for all retail customers in Kerala this month as well as contributing Rs 10 crore towards flood relief to the state that's facing worst rain havoc in a century.

"No penalty for late payment of credit card dues as well as no cheque bouncing charges for our customers in Kerala this month," the second largest private sector lender said in statement.

The majority of its Rs 10 crore contribution will be extended to the Chief Minister's distress relief fund, the bank said.

The bank will also contribute to the district collectors' efforts in all the 14 districts to help in the supply of essential commodities like clothes, food items, medicines, sanitation and hygiene products and others.

It will also not charge penalties for late payment of credit card dues as well as no cheque bouncing charges on its customers in this month.

State chief secretary Tom Jose accepting contribution said, of this, Rs 8 crore will be donated to the Chief Minister's distress relief fund and the rest to all the 14 district administrations to help them buy relief material.

Aug 17, 2018 9:27 PM

Navy rescues 500 in flood-hit Kerala ## Navy rescues 500 in flood-hit Kerala

The Indian Navy rescued nearly 500 people on Friday, continuing with its massive rescue and relief operations in flood-ravaged Kerala where monsoon rains have left a trail of death and destruction across the state.

On Friday, 58 rescue teams were deployed at multiple locations as part of "Operation Madad" launched nine days ago.

According to officials it is unprecedented in the history of rescue operations by the Navy as the flood situation continued to remain grim all across the southern state.

More than 3,000 people have been rescued since floods hit Kerala 10 days ago, an official spokesperson said.

Efforts continued to bring the flood affected people to safety and also provide them essential supplies such as food and water, the spokesperson said.

The Southern Naval Command on Friday deployed a total of 58 rescue and diving teams with Gemini boats while 18 more teams were sent to various locations to augment the rescue effort.

The spokesperson said 19 teams of rescuers came from the Eastern Naval Command and Western Naval Command.

"Some 500 rescued people have been accommodated at the T2 hangar inside the naval base, a make-shift relief camp, before shifting them to a relief camp at Fort Kochi. (On Friday), 310 people were rescued by the boats and 176 by aircraft," the spokesperson said.

"All the assets of (Southern Naval Command) have been committed to the operation. Other commands have provided additional disaster relief items comprising 1,000 raincoats, 1,300 gum boots, 264 lifebuoys and 1,000 life jackets. Twenty five more rescue teams with boats are being readied for deployment as per request from the Kerala government."

Aug 17, 2018 9:15 PM

Delhi government to donate Rs 10 crore to flood-battered Kerala ## Delhi government to donate Rs 10 crore to flood-battered Kerala

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced his government will be donating Rs 10 crore to flood-ravaged Kerala.

Sharing a tweet by the office of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Kejriwal appealed to everyone to "donate generously" to Kerala.

"Spoke to Kerala CM. I sincerely appeal to everyone to donate generously for our brothers and sisters in Kerala," Kejriwal wrote in his tweet.

The toll in rain-battered Kerala in 10 days touched 174 on Friday as a red alert continued in 12 of the 14 districts of the state, the Kerala government said in a statement.

Since August 8, when the rains began pounding the southern state, around 2.40 lakh persons have been lodged in 1,568 relief camps across Kerala.

Although the intensity of the rain has decreased in several districts since Friday morning, flood water from big dams in Idukki district continued to be released.

On Twitter, the Kerala Chief Minister's office appealed to the people of the country to donate to the state which has "lost 324 lives" in the floods.

"Kerala is facing its worst flood in 100 years. Eighty dams opened, 324 lives lost and 2,23,139 people are in about 150 relief camps. Your help can rebuild the lives of the affected," it said.

Aug 17, 2018 8:59 PM

Kerala flood death toll 324, red alert remains in 12 districts ## Kerala flood death toll 324, red alert remains in 12 districts

With Kerala reeling under one of the worst floods, Indian Railways on Friday sent over 2.8 lakh liter of drinking water to the state through wagons and also bottled water.

"The Southern Railway has dispatched one water special consisting of seven wagons with water tank from the Erode Junction station at 4 p.m. today with 2.8 lakh liter of drinking water," Rajesh Dutt Bajpai, Director Media Railway Ministry, said.

He said the special train to Trivandrum will run via Dindigul, Madurai and Tirunelveli.

He also said that the seven wagons with water have moved from Chengalpattu in Tamil Nadu.

The official said the railways is supplying bottled water to the flood-affected in Kerala.

"Today 2,740 cartons were despatched from Parassala Rail Neer plant. Another 10,000 cartons of water bottles (1,00,000 bottles) from IRCTC's Parassala plant in Kerala is under progress," he said, adding that about 15,000 cartons with water bottles are being despatched from IRCTC's Palur Plant in Tamil Nadu.

Aug 17, 2018 8:47 PM

PM Modi to visit flood-battered Kerala; rescue operations under way ## PM Modi to visit flood-battered Kerala; rescue operations under way

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake an aerial survey of the flood-devastated parts of Kerala on Saturday to assess the central government's aid efforts and also the rescue operations.

Modi spoke to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the flood situation on Friday.

"Later this evening, I will be heading to Kerala to take stock of the unfortunate situation due to flooding," Modi tweeted.

Modi is expected to land in Thiruvananthapuram by 9 p.m. and will be staying at the Raj Bhavan.

The death toll in rain-battered Kerala in 10 days touched 324 on Friday as a red alert continued in 12 of the 14 districts of the state, the Kerala government said in a statement.

The red alert in Kasargode and Thiruvananthapuram districts was withdrawn on Friday, it said.

The intensity of rains, although has decreased in several districts since Friday morning, flood waters from big dams in Idukki district continued to be let out.

Since August 8, 2.23 lakh people are put up in 1,568 relief camps across the state, the statement added.

Aug 17, 2018 8:10 PM

Kerala floods: Rescuers battle treacherous conditions to rescue animals ## Kerala floods: Rescuers battle treacherous conditions to rescue animals

With Kerala facing its worst floods and landslides in nearly a century, an animal charity body said today its rescuers were battling treacherous conditions to rescue and rehabilitate stranded and abandoned animals.

Humane Society International India said many animals have perished in the disaster and were working with the Kerala government and the National Disaster Response Force to locate and rescue dogs, cats and other animals left behind during evacuations.

The deadliest deluge in close to a century has claimed 324 lives since August 8, and dealt a body blow to the scenic state, wrecking its tourism industry, destroying standing crops in thousands of hectares and inflicting huge damage to infrastructure.

As the monsoon savaged Kerala, claiming 106 lives yesterday, the state plunged deeper into misery today with hospitals facing shortage of oxygen and fuel stations running dry.

A team of six HSI India experts have been operating in Nilambur and Tirur, Kerala's worst-affected regions, for the past four days.

HSI India's team is also providing vital medicines, shelter and food for sick and injured animals.

Aug 17, 2018 8:04 PM

Kerala flood death toll 324, red alert remains in 12 districts ## Kerala flood death toll 324, red alert remains in 12 districts

The death toll in rain-battered Kerala touched 324 on Friday as a red alert continued in 12 districts, with the authorities continuing rescue operations after rains subsided and evacuated more survivors to relief camps.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday evening confirmed the death toll to be 324.

He told the media in the morning that the situation arising out of unprecedented floods and subsequent havoc caused by turgid rivers and gushing waters in Kerala continues to be "grave".

Since August 8 when the rains began pounding the southern state, around 2.40 lakh persons have been lodged in 1,568 relief camps across Kerala.

"The worst affected districts include Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur," Vijayan said after a review meeting with state officials.

Aug 17, 2018 7:33 PM

Load more