44 die as monsoon rains continue to pound Indian state
NEW DELHI –As many as 44 people have died and over 34,000 displaced since August 8 in southern Indian state of Kerala in floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains, officials said Wednesday.
"With more deaths in the last two days after fresh monsoon rains lashed the state after a lull of couple of days, the toll in rain-related incidents has now risen to 44. This is turning out to be Kerala's worst monsoon in almost a century," a disaster management official said.
Apart from the casualties, more than 10,000 km of roads and hundreds of homes have been destroyed or damaged in the natural calamities in the state, prompting the government to cancel celebrations for Onam, a major festival in southern India.
Among the worst affected districts are Idukki, Wayanad, Pallakad, Kochi, and state capital Thirvananthapuram. The Kochi airport, one of the busiest in southern India, has been shut down following flooding of the runaway.
"Kochi airport operations have been temporarily suspended till August 18 afternoon since the inflow of water is still on a raising trend. We are working hard to drain out the storm water," an airport spokesperson told the media.
People living on river banks in the rain-hit districts have been asked to relocate, while fishermen urged not to venture into the Arabian Sea, the disaster management official said.
Officials said that several dams, particularly the Idukki dam, the biggest arch dam in Asia, have been opened to release excess water. All the shutters of the Idukki dam were opened last week for the first time after a gap of 26 years.
Apart from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), Indian Army, Navy and Air Force have been pressed into rescue work. "Some 14 NDRF teams and 10 columns of Army are now in action in Thrissur, Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Wayand, Kozhikode and Idukki districts," sources said.
Indian Home Minister Rajanth Singh, who undertook an aerial survey of the state Sunday, had termed the situation in Kerala as serious.
A day before, state Chief Minister P. Vijayan described the grim situation as "an unprecedented natural disaster." "We face an uphill task in rebuilding devastated areas. We need help from all quarters," he told the media.
The chief minister had also announced a compensation of 400,000 rupees (5,600 U.S. dollars) each to families of those killed in floods and rainslides.
This is the state's worst monsoon rains since 1924. Last month, rain-related incidents in Kerala claimed 40 lives. Enditem
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