Kerala Floods UPDATES: As IMD predicts more rains in next two days, help pours in

Kerala is flooded due to excessive rains that overfilled the rivers, leading to massive destruction of lives and households in just one week. 324 lives were lost and more than 3.14 lakh people became homeless. Floodwaters have submerged the state.  But, in time of such natural calamity, Indians are renowned to stand by the side of the affected people. That is why we boast the fact of having “Unity in Diversity”.

After visiting the flood-ridden state and chairing the high-level meeting with the senior officials on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an additional Rs 500 crore interim aid to the state. He also announced ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh per person to the next kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those seriously injured from PM’s National Relief Funds (PMNRF). This amount was an addition to the previous financial aid provided by the Centre after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh did an aerial survey.

The Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an assistance of ₹500 crore. CM had requested an immediate assistance of ₹2000 crore. We express our thanks to Centre for the assistance. @PMOIndia @narendramodi

— CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) August 18, 2018

Soon after the PM’s visit, State governments started announcing the donations and aid for the flood-ridden state. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced Rs 10 crore financial aid, while AAP ministers have declared that they will donate their one-month salary. Extending a helping hand, Telengana Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao announced Rs 25 crore, while Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis announced Rs 20 crore. In addition, the state government also sent drinking water via trains to Kerala. The first instalment of seven lakh litre was sent today from Pune.

The other States which followed the suit include — Madhya Pradesh (Rs 10 crore), Bihar (Rs 10 crore), Punjab (Rs 10 crore), Haryana (Rs 10 crore), Gujarat (Rs 10 Crore), Jharkhand (Rs 5 crore), Uttarakhand (Rs 5 crore) and Himachal Pradesh (Rs 10 crore). Odisha government has announced Rs five crore and have sent 240 fire service personnel for the relief personnel. Tamil Nadu IAS officers have issued a statement which says that they will donate one-day salary for the noble cause.

240 fire service personnel departed from Odisha’s Bhubaneswar for Kerala today for relief and rescue operations. pic.twitter.com/zLq51jKiBd

— ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2018

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier asked for help from various State governments, as the devastation is massive. He had appealed to the people also to donate generously for the relief of innocent lives.

For the people of Kerala, the road to recovery is going to be a long one. Your help no matter how small will be a step to restore normalcy. Donate to:

Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund
NO: 67319948232
Bank: State Bank of India
IFSC : SBIN0070028
SWIFT CODE : SBININBBT08 pic.twitter.com/cbsFwRplsG

— CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) August 17, 2018