Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday assured that the Centre would ‘firmly stand’ with Kerala for meeting the ‘serious situation’ brought about by the heavy rains in which 39 people have died since Wednesday due to landslides and flooding. He announced an immediate assistance of Rs 100 crore to the State even as water level in the giant Idukki hydel reservoir dropped considerably bringing relief to lakhs of people living in its downstream regions.
However, sporadic heavy downpours in districts like Wayanad and Idukki districts that had borne the worst brunt of the latest spell of the monsoon with rain-triggered landslides and flash floods enhanced the anxiety of the people especially in the context of a red alert issued following the forecast of heavy to very heavy rainfall till Wednesday. The heavy downpour also caused problems for relief works in these districts.
More than 60,000 people were still lodged at nearly 460 flood relief camps in the disaster-hit districts and it was not clear till late Sunday evening when they would be able to return home. As per initial estimates, at least 120 houses were destroyed and over 1,500 were damaged in the State which had also suffered infrastructure losses to the tune of several billion rupees.
Rajnath Singh, who landed at the Kochi International Airport at Sunday noon, carried out an aerial survey of the disaster-struck areas in Idukki, the district worst hit by the monsoon rains. He was accompanied by Union Minister of State Alphons Kannanthanam and State Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and others.
“… The situation is very serious in Kerala. I assure the State of all Central help for meeting the emergency. The Centre will stand firmly with the State in this situation,” the Home Minister said while interacting directly with the people at a relief camp at Elanthikkara in Paravur near Kochi after the aerial survey.
Stating that this was the first time such a grim flood situation had come up in Kerala since Independence, he announced an immediate financial assistance of Rs 100 crore to the State in addition to the Rs 160 crore allotted earlier. A decision on the quantum of Central assistance to the State would be taken later, he said after a review meeting in Kochi on Sunday evening.
In a memorandum submitted to the Union Minister, the Chief Minister sought an emergency Central assistance of Rs 1,220 crore. Kerala had suffered losses to the tune of Rs 8,316 crore in rain-related disasters as per preliminary estimates, Pinarayi said. The State also requested the Centre for a special package considering the magnitude of the calamity.
Meanwhile, the water level in the giant Idukki hydel reservoir with 60 square kilometer surface area dropped considerably bringing immense relief to lakhs of people living downstream on the banks of the Cheruthoni and Periyar rivers to which water from the reservoir was being discharged through the shutters in the Cheruthoni dam since Thursday noon.
The water level in the three-dam reservoir system had stood at 2,401.76 feet at 5.00 PM Friday but it had come down to 2,398.68 feet the same time on Sunday as water at a rate of 750 cubic meters per second was being discharged through the five shutters of the Cheruthoni dam. The maximum storage level of the reservoir is 2,403 feet.
The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), which is managing the Idukki hydel project, had opened the first of the five shutters of Cheruthoni dam at noon Thursday as the water level kept rising but it was forced to open two more shutters the next morning. The two remaining shutters were opened on Friday evening after the water level rose to dangerous levels.
The discharge of water from the reservoir has sowed devastation on the banks of the Cheruthoni and Periyar rivers along an 80-KM stretch up to Aluva near Kochi as the gushing water inundated several hectares of farmlands, destroyed crops and houses, damaged bridges and washed away large portions of roads at many places.
At the same time, there were fears of further flooding of River Periyar in Aluva and the low-lying areas of Ernakulam district after all the four shutters of the Idamalayar dam upstream were opened to discharge water at a rate of 400 cubic meters per second after a gap of four days following a sudden rise in the water level of the hydel reservoir.