Kerala floods: Govt expedites restoration work

Trivandrum: With water starting to recede in some of the flooded parts of Kerala, restoration process has been expedited in the state.

The Chief Minister Officer (CMO) in Kerala on Saturday tweeted that at least 1, 31, 683 houses wrecked in the floods have been cleaned, which is 31 per cent of the total flood-hit houses.

It also added, “Electricity restored for 23.36 lakh connections of the 25.6 lakh disrupted. 14,314 transformers (out of 16158 affected) are now functioning.”

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday gave details saying, “Rs.10,000 will be transferred to the bank accounts of people who will leave relief camps and also to the people who have already left.”

The Central Government has provided Rs.600 crore as advance assistance.
Out of a total population of about 3.48 crore, more than 54 lakh or one-sixth of the population of Kerala, had been directly affected by the floods.

As many as 357 people have lost their lives so far, with the state facing a loss of Rs 19,512 crore and over 10, 00,000 people are packed into relief camps.

On Thursday, the Centre announced that additional funds would be released from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) on assessment of the damages in the flood-hit state as per laid down procedure.

That states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and several others have extended help to the state. Celebrities from various fields too offered aid in the wake of the situation.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]