PM asks MoD to step up Kerala relief and rescue ops

New Delhi: Prime Minster Narendra Modi on Thursday asked the Defence Ministry to further step up relief and rescue operations across Kerala which is facing a severe flood situation.

He also spoke with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan again this morning. "We discussed the flood situation in the state. Have asked Defence Ministry to further step up the rescue and relief operations across the state.  Praying for the safety and well-being of the people of Kerala," the PM tweeted. 

On Wednesday evening, Modi had told Vijayan that the Centre stood firmly behind Kerala and was ready to provide any assistance. Rains in the state have claimed 47 lives, officials said, adding that a red alert had been sounded in 12 of the 14 districts. 

Twelve fresh teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been rushed by the Centre today to rain-battered Kerala. Six teams each are being airlifted from Delhi and Gandhinagar (Gujarat) and they will be dropped at Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, a force spokesperson said. 

Only on Wednesday, four teams of the federal disaster contingency force were sent to Kerala and with their addition the total number of NDRG teams operating in the state had gone up to 18. 

The teams had been deployed in the flood affected areas of Idukki, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Alaphuza, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Thrissur and Pathanamthitta, the spokesperson said. 

A single NDRF team has about 45 personnel. So far, NDRF teams have rescued 7 people and evacuated 685 people in the state that has been severely hit by rains and floods, he added. Heavy rains in Kerala have so far claimed the lives of 72 people and the Kochi International Airport has been shut till Saturday. 

A red alert has been sounded in 12 of the 14 districts.  The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has donated Rs 30 lakh to the relief fund for Kerala flood victims.  

In a circular issued by the SCBA, it also called up on its members to contribute "generously" towards 'SCBA Calamity Relief Fund' that has been set up for this purpose. It said a corpus of about Rs 30 lakh lying in the account shall be transferred for Kerala flood relief operations. 

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Thursday announced financial assistance of Rs 5 crore for flood-ravaged Kerala. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik talked to his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan over telephone, following which the financial aid was announced, the CMO said. Patnaik also offered any other kind of support required to tackle the calamity, as Odisha has expertise in dealing with disasters like flood and cyclone, it said.