TIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has decided to sanction Rs 121.01 crore as flood relief, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the Assembly on Tuesday.
This includes Rs 64.19 crore as compensation for damages sustained in 2018 and Rs 56.82 crore for settling dues dating from 2016. Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan read out the statement made under Rule 300 on behalf of the Chief Minister. Monsoon-related incidents have so far claimed 56 lives, destroyed 255 houses and damaged crops in 4217.91 hectares across the state since November 29, the day the south-west monsoon set in over the state.
The government has also entrusted a panel headed by the Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) to prepare guidelines for tackling natural calamities with special reference to the special characteristics of the state. The committee has as its convener the secretary, State Disaster Management Authority. The director, Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre (KSREC); Dr V P Dineshan of the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management; Dr S Abhilash of the Cochin University of Science and Technology; G Shankar, senior consultant, National Centre for Earth Science Studies, and a representative of the Geological Survey of India, are its members.
District collectors concerned have been instructed to hold special camps for replacing documents and certificates that have gone missing in monsoon-related mishaps. In Kattipara panchayat in Kozhikode which faced the brunt of the disaster, the death toll stands at 14. Nine persons were rescued. Steps are being taken to restore traffic along the Thamarassery ghat road where 50 metres of the protection wall has collapsed.
Monsoon-related death toll and property damage:
Death toll: 59
Houses destroyed: 255
Damaged houses: 5566
Poultry: 3534
Crop damage: 4217.91 ha
People shifted to relief camps: 28,700
PWD roads damaged: 450 km
Protection walls, culverts and drains: 140
Damage to PWD structures: Rs 101 crore
11 kV transformer: 1198
Electric posts: 1971