THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister VD Satheesan on Tuesday informed the Kerala Legislative Assembly that even though there is a financial crunch in the state, availability of funds will pose no threat to disaster preparedness
"Disaster preparedness is a matter of people's lives and property, and nothing will be a hurdle for the same. Required amount for the same will be released without any delay," he said in the Question Hour.
Pointing out the rising sea levels and the consequent submergence of coastal areas in places including Kochi, Satheesan informed the assembly that the government is planning a resilience project with river management experts.
A pilot project of the same will be done in Ezhikkara panchayat. He also assured that places like Muthalapozhi, where multiple people have died, will be identified, volunteers will be trained, and a detailed Standard Operating Procedure will be drafted for the same.
"The government has already begun the work towards the development of separate relief mechanisms for each district, by understanding the differences in problems of each geography— coastal area, Western Ghats, riverside, and regions close to dams. Expert agencies like IIT Madras will be teamed up as knowledge partners in the same," the CM said in the Legislative Assembly.
Meanwhile, in the Assembly, responding to MLAs' questions about poorly constructed school buildings, Local Self Government Department Minister KM Shaji said that two meetings have already been held with the Education Minister, and the departments will look into the same.
"Be it schools or religious institutions, constructions should be done properly," he said. Shaji also added that the government is planning to give a geotagging-based unique number to buildings. Even if ward boundaries change, in extreme conditions like floods, emergency alerts can be issued.
In his reply to Kottarakkara MLA KN Balagopal, Health Minister K Muraleedharan said that the government will present a bill to regulate the exorbitant charges levied by private hospitals. "Many private hospitals in the state are not run by the managements we know, but rather by foreign companies, who are raising the charges of medicines and rooms without any control. This has also led to a state where insurance companies are unwilling to give coverage. A bill to regulate this is being drafted by the state government, which will be presented before the assembly in the next session," he said.
In light of the findings on discrepancies in spas across the state as part of Operation Spa, the minister also informed that instructions have been given to Health Department officials to do inspections in all spas.