THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Timely reconstruction of infrastructure will revive the economy and boost the confidence of people affected by the floods, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.“The extend of the damages caused by the floods is huge. Roads and bridges were destroyed. Small-scale traders and industrialists are facing a big crisis. Bank loans alone won’t help. The state needs World Bank assistance,” Pinarayi said.
The CM was speaking to a World Bank team that arrived in the state. It is seeking assistance from the World Bank, ADB and international agencies to tide over the crisis.Pinarayi listed the tasks ahead of the state to the WB team. Besides huge infrastructure investment, large number of people have to be shifted from ecologically fragile locations. Pinarayi lauded the Central Ministry of Economic Affairs for facilitating the WB team’s visit.
The WB team will conduct the “rapid damage assessment and needs analysis” in the aftermath of the floods. Later a loan structure will be prepared in consultation with the chief secretary and secretaries of various departments.Chief Secretary Tom Jose explained the damage caused. Ministers who attended the meeting were E P Jayarajan, E Chandrasekharan, T M Thomas Isaac, A K Balan, Mathew T Thomas and Ramachandran Kadannappally.
The team included Bandana Preyashi, director, Central Department of Economic Affairs, Hisham Abdo, acting country director, World Bank, Kenichi Yokoyama, ADB country director, Deepak Singh, World Bank Lead DRM Specialist and Madan Karnani, IFC senior investment officer.