Kerala: UAE offers Rs 700 crore for relief fund

Thiruvananthapuram: United Arab Emirates (UAE) has offered financial assistance of Rs 700 crores towards Kerala flood relief, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced on Tuesday, adding “a new Kerala” needed to be built following the widespread destruction.

“Today morning, the UAE rulers informed our Prime Minister about their contribution for Kerala and this was conveyed to me by M.A. Yusuf Ali (who owns Lulu Supermarkets),” he told IANS, thanking the Emirate for the timely help.

“Many have come forward to help Kerala. Besides the aid from various states, other nations have also been extending assistance to the flood-hit region. UAE has put forward a relief package and the Gulf nations have been helping us on all fronts,” Vijayan said, reported News18.

The UAE has been one of the first countries to offer financial assistance to rebuild the flood-ravaged state.

“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.

[also_read url=”https://www.siasat.com/news/kerala-people-are-part-our-success-story-says-uae-1394004/”]‘Kerala people are part of our success story’, says UAE[/also_read]

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), home to hundreds of thousands of Keralites. According to estimates, 2 million Indians in the UAE form around 30 percent of the country’s population.

Kerala battles its worst floods in a century and states across the country and Indian based in foreign countries are making the contribution towards the rain-battered state.

The severe inundation claimed at least 223 lives between August 8-20 in Kerala.

Following the devastating floods, over one million people are now sheltered in 3,274 relief camps in the state. The death toll since the monsoon rains began on May 29 has been estimated at around 370.

On August 18, Vijayan informed that May 29 the state has suffered a loss of Rs 19,512 crores due to floods.