About INR 8,000 crore worth of damage estimated in Kerala due to floods

Few destructions caused by nature’s wreckage have been as bad as what the southern Indian state of Kerala’s experienced just recently.

Kerala, the land of the famous Ayurveda, cultural diversity, the famous backwaters and the scintillating literary prowess of Dr Shashi Tharoor has endured amongst the hardest ever times in its history.

The floods in the state of Kerala have wrecked havoc and jolted civilian lives endlessly so. It’s not just the troubled state or those that are its neighbours but also the entire country that’s been rocked and shocked about the strange news that’s engulfed Kerala in entirety.

There’s a lot of concern about a truly magnificent land in India that’s established a diaspora in wider geographies or parts of the world such as Singapore, Dubai, China, the United States, Germany and elsewhere.

And that’s not all. To that regard, the most disturbing piece of news regarding the Kerala flooding is that the savagery inflicted by nature has led to a massive financial damage.

Perhaps not everyone in the country would be truly aware of the total destruction caused by the unflinching vitriol of nature.

But now, reports have come in that state the true nature of damage endured by Kerala. And that said, it’s said that the overall damage that the floods have wrecked in the state that boasts of the highest literacy levels in the country is worth approximately 8000 crore in INR.

And that told, at this point in time, there’s no single India media outlet that hasn’t carried the news of destruction emanating from Kerala. A recent news bulletin published in NDTV suggested the following in lines with the destruction Kerala suffered:

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has announced a compensation of Rs. 4 lakh to families of the deceased and an equal amount for those who lost their homes. Those who have lost their land and home, will get a compensation of up to Rs. 10 lakh.

Nearly 20,000 houses and at least 10,000 km of roads have also been damaged in the floods.

Nearly 10,000 people have been sent to relief camps in Thrissur and Ernakulam districts after five floodgates were opened on the Idukki dam on the Periyar River. This state that has a tremendous number of rivers, somewhere around 44 by national estimates, witnessed its worst floods in 1924 following torrential rains.

To that extent, the situation in the state afflicted by the worst floods in its recent history is still very much grim. It hasn’t really experienced any normality, of late.

Additionally, let it not be forgotten that after a brief lull, rains lashed several parts of Kerala again on Sunday, posing problems to relief work by multiple agencies in flood and landslide-hit regions. Centre has announced an additional Rs 100 crore for relief. The current chief minister- Mr Pinarayi Vijayan- has expressed concern on the state of affairs of the ravaged state and extended his best wishes and prayers to those affected by this great onslaught of nature.

But while on the one hand, in terms of natural disasters there’s a lot of pain, concern and obvious duress, these are the very occasions that tell us about the real strength of a country like India.

As if often the case during catastrophic natural disasters, it’s often the armed forces of the country that get together to act in unison toward alleviating concern and those affected, on this occasion too, Kerala observed time-bound and excellent help from all three armed forces of the world’s largest democracy.

Ten columns of Army, a unit of Madras Regiment along with personnel of Navy, Air Force and 14 teams of the National Disaster Relief Force, were engaged in relief and rescue operations in badly-hit districts — Thrissur, Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Wayanad, Kozhikode and Idukki districts.