For Flood-hit Kerala, UAE Government offers Rs. 700 crore assistance

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 21, 2018 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday announced that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has extended Rs. 700 crore as financial assistance to rebuild the flood-ravaged state, where 223 people lost their lives since August 8.

 

 

The centre has declared the devastating floods in the state a "calamity of severe nature". "Keeping in view the intensity and magnitude of the floods and landslides in Kerala, this is a calamity of a severe nature for all practical purposes," a home ministry official said in New Delhi.

This categorisation will enable the state get greater monetary and other assistance from the centre.

Efforts are being made to rebuild the state from the devastating floods said to be the worst in a century.

"We are slowly winding down rescue operations and concentrating on relief and rehabilitation," E Chandrasekharan, Kerala’s revenue minister said. "About 95 percent of people affected have been rescued and put up in relief camps. We are hoping to reach out to everyone by end of day today."

The UAE has been one of the first countries to offer solidarity with the people in Kerala. "The people of Kerala have always been and are still part of our success story in the UAE," UAE’s vice president Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum had tweeted recently.

The UAE is home to several people from Kerala who have moved there.

"The people of Kerala have always been and are still part of our success story in the UAE," the vice president tweeted.

Hundreds of thousands have been shifted to relief camps in Kerala as nearly 100 dams, reservoirs and rivers have overflowed, roads caved in, sections of highways collapsed, and homes swept away amid warnings of worse weather to come.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook an aerial survey of the affected areas and announced Rs. 500 crore in aid, a fourth of the amount sought by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

"The prime minister announced a financial assistance of Rs. 500 crore to the state. This is in addition to Rs. 100 crore announced by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on August 12," it said.


courtesy:NDTV