Pinarayi Vijayan says treat Kerala on different yardstick for flood relief aid

Kerala should be treated on a different yardstick for extending flood relief assistance as its huge loss cannot be compared with damage in any other state at any point of time Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said todayGiving a detailed account of the havoc caused by the devastating floods and landslides since early this month he said the preliminary assessment of losses was around Rs 20000 crore which was equal to the states annual Plan size for 201819 The heavy rains and floods have claimed 231 lives in Kerala since August 8 and more than 1040 lakh people are still in relief camps across the stateIn support of his stand that Keralas case was unique he said the state was densely populated and the entire state had infrastructure facilities such as good roads communication network and hospitals Hence the loss suffered in the floods was huge in nature and was something which cannot be compared to the damage suffered by any other part of the country at any point of time Vijayan said urging that the state should be treated on a different yardstick for extending assistanceHis stress on the magnitude of the calamity and assistance comes at a time when there is a standoff over accepting foreign aid for the floodravaged state While the state government was keen on receiving foreign aid including USD 100 million offered by the United Arab Emirates the Centre has taken the stand that it cannot accept any assistance from overseas governments and cited an existing policyPushing for foreign assistance Vijayan had earlier said there was no blanket ban and India by law could accept financial aid voluntarily given by a foreign government in times of a severe calamity In his statement today the chief minister said It is with a thankful heart that we take note of the fact that foreign countries ranging from the UAE to Qatar have come forward with their promise of assistanceVijayan also mentioned about the immediate release of Rs 100 crore by the Centre and further interim aid of Rs 500 crore announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately after his aerial survey of floodaffected areas on August 19 The Centre has already released Rs 600 crore to the state The chief minister said the state was facing the biggest calamity in 100 years and preliminary estimate of losses comes around Rs 20000 croreIt goes without saying that the actual losses will steadily go up once the water recedes and the final assessment is made To put it in a nutshell the size of the loss caused by the calamity is equal to the size of the annual plan the state has chalked out for 20182019 Vijayan saidMore than 26000 houses have been damaged or destroyed and crops spread over 40000 hectares lost Vijayan said adding We have lost more than two lakh poultry and at least 46000 milch animals The magnitude of the havoc truly gets reflected in the fact that a vast area of the state still remains submerged in flood waters the chief minister saidFloods have washed away several multistoreyed buildings shops commercial establishments and even bridges he said Telecommunication network and electricity lines have been damaged The power sector suffered losses of around Rs 750 crore while damage to water supply infrastructure was close to Rs 900 crore he saidHe also noted that more than 300 landslides have occurred resulting in hills being razed in several places Major rivers such as Bharathapuzha Periyar Chalakkudy and Pamba have altered course in many places Several parts of the state had been cut off and remained as isolated islands inaccessible by road or water transport for days together People of the state came together and stood behind the government in evacuating the people stranded in flood waters and rehabilitating them in relief camps the chief minister saidGiving details of the rescue operations held with the active cooperation of the national disaster response force defence forces Coast Guard police and others Vijayan said it was for the first time that such a massive rescue operation of this magnitude was conducted anywhere in the countryOn postflood health concerns he said the health authorities were taking every precaution to ensure the wellbeing of the people and to ensure that there was no epidemic breakoutAlso Read Tamil Nadu CM K Palaniswami Says Kerala Giving Wrong Information On MullaperiyarCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever