Kerala to explore legal options to avail of foreign aid: CM Vijayan

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As Kerala picks up the pieces, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the government would explore the possibility of legal options to avail the funds offered to the state, including that from abroad.

His statement assumes significance in the wake of a row over the Centre's refusal to accept the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) reported offer of Rs 7 billion to the flood-hit state.

Addressing a specially convened one-day session of the state assembly to discuss the unprecedented flood situation, Vijayan said 483 people have lost lives in the state since the onset of monsoon on May 28 and 14 were still missing.

He said the state's economy had been badly hit and the loss could be much more than the state's annual plan outlay for the year which stood at Rs 372.47 billion.

I-T department extends deadline for filing returns in Kerala due to floods

The Income Tax department has extended the deadline for filing returns by a fortnight to September 15 for assessees in Kerala, which was ravaged by floods this month. Earlier, the department had extended the last date for filing returns by a month till August 31 across the country.

Meanwhile, a delegation led by the Union Minister of State for Finance P Radhakrishnan will visit Kerala on Wednesday and review the relief measures and rehabilitation efforts being undertaken by banks and insurance companies in the state.

The delegation would comprise senior officers from the Centre, including additional secretary Debashish Panda and economic advisor N Srinivasa Rao.

Chairman and managing directors from the public sector banks and insurance companies, including Agriculture Insurance Company of India and NABARD would also be present in the review meetings, along with senior officers from the state government.

SC asks TN to maintain Mullaperiyar dam's water level at 139 ft till Aug 31

The Supreme Court Thursday ordered thaat the water level at the Mullaperiyar dam be maintained at 139 feet till August 31, keeping in mind the grave devastation that has taken place due to the unprecedented floods in Kerala.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered the Centre's submission that the sub-committee of the Mullaperiyar dam had met on August 23 and directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that the water level is maintained at 139 feet, which is two feet below the permissible limit fixed by the apex court.

The bench made it clear that it would confine itself to the aspect of disaster management and said that the decision to lower the water limit in the dam has been taken in view of the devastating deluge in Kerala.

The observation came after Tamil Nadu government alleged that "it could be a part of a sinister design" to circumvent the apex court's decision fixing the permissible limit.

Kerala flood may lead to 20% cut in India's coffee output: Trade body

Kerala Floods - India's coffee production in 2018/19 is likely to fall by at least one-fifth from a year ago as floods in key producing states damaged the crop and delayed exports, industry officials told Reuters.

Some of the worst flooding in India in a century killed hundreds of people in the southern states of Kerala and Karnataka earlier this month, both of which account for more than 90 per cent of the country's total coffee production.

"Earlier we were expecting better crop than this year. Now we are expecting at least 20 per cent drop in the production," Ramesh Rajah, president of the Coffee Exporters' Association of India, told Reuters.

The severe crop loss was reported in the coffee-growing regions of Kodagu in Karnataka and Wayanad in Kerala, while the Chikmagalur and Hassan districts in Karnataka also reported damage on limited scale, he said.

The South Asian country, famous as a tea producer, is also the world's sixth-largest coffee grower, according to India's state-run Coffee Board, mainly churning out the robusta beans used to make instant coffee, but also producing some of the more expensive arabica variety.

Kerala floods: Govt inherited policy of refusing foreign aid, says Alphons

In refusing foreign aid for the rehabilitation of flood-hit Kerala, the Centre has followed a 14-year convention it "inherited" from previous governments of refusing such assistance in the face of natural calamities, Union minister Alphons Kannanthanam said on Thursday.

The government is under fire for refusing aid for Kerala from countries like the UAE and Thailand. Alphons said this was a policy that was followed by the current government since former prime minister Manmohan Singh had refused aid from foreign countries in 2004 during the devastating Tsunami.

"A policy decision was taken by the Manmohan Singh government in December, 2004 in the aftermath of the Tsunami and that policy has been continued with for the last 14 years. This is something we have inherited," he told reporters here.

Earlier, among others, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had criticised the BJP-led government over the refusal of aid and said the rain ravaged southern state had asked the Centre for a financial support of Rs 22 billion, but was granted only Rs 6 billion.

Kerala floods: State may push Centre to accept Rs 7-bn aid from UAE

The Kerala government on Wednesday said if the Centre decides to refuse an offer of Rs 7 billion as flood relief from Kerala — as reported in some news reports — it should compensate the state for it.

Chief Minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan said, “We have heard there are some obstacles in receiving this fund. We will discuss with the government and go to the prime minister.”

According to the National Disaster Management Policy (NDMP), 2016, the Centre can take a decision on whether or not to take relief funds offered by another country. The Centre has released Rs 6 billion for the state, even though Kerala had demanded Rs 22 billion.

“We did not ask the United Arab Emirates to give us money; they offered Rs 7 billion voluntarily. Now, the Union government says it is below our dignity to accept foreign aid,” said Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac in a tweet, adding the NDMP allows for international aid in case of severe calamity. 

Udupi, Idukki record highest rainfall in 2018, serve future warning

Kerala now faces the ravages of the worst monsoon floods in 94 years, with 373 dead and more than 1.2 million in relief camps after 2,378 millimetre (mm) of rain over 81 days between June 1 and August 20, 2018–42% above normal or three times more than the Indian average for that period–according to data from the India aDepartment (IMD).

Kerala is facing its worst flood in 100 years. 80 dams opened, 324 lives lost and 223139 people are in about 1500+ relief camps. Your help can rebuild the lives of the affected. Donate to https://t.co/FjYFEdOsyl #StandWithKerala.

— CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) August 17, 2018

With extreme weather events and variability increasing in urban and rural India, as IndiaSpend has previously reported, flooding is likely to become more common, the outcomes attributable as much to poor planning as climate change. In Kerala, the monsoons have generally decreased, and that was a reason the state was unprepared for such a ferocious monsoon, an IMD official told the Times of India on August 21, 2018.

Kerala floods LIVE: Kochi airport faces Rs 2.2 bn loss; UAE offers Rs 7 bn

Kerala floods: The situation in the flood-ravaged state was gradually improving, even as some rainfall was forecast for the coastal state from Monday onwards. According to the Indian Meteorological Department, “heavy rainfall” is expected only in Kozhikode, Kannur and Idduki districts over the next four days. However, even as water recedes from major areas, authorities are gearing up to deal with the possible outbreak of water-borne and air-borne diseases.

Commercial flight operations from the Naval airport at Kochi commenced today with the first Air India flight from Bengaluru arriving this morning. It is after 18 years that civilian flights are landing and taking off from the naval airport.

The Indian Railways said that two special trains will be run on Monday from Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam to Kolkata and that the train services are expected to be restored on all lines in Kerala by Monday evening. The Railways would also provide blankets and bedsheets to the affected people in Kerala.

868 lives lost due to rains, floods in 7 Indian states during monsoon

As many as 868 people have lost their lives, 247 of them in Kerala, due to rains, floods and landslides in seven states during the monsoon season so far, the Home Ministry said on Friday.

According to the Home Ministry's National Emergency Response Centre (NERC), 247 people have died in Kerala, where 2,11,000 people in 14 districts have been badly hit by the rains and floods and over 32,500 hectares of crops damaged.

As many as 191 people have died in Uttar Pradesh, 183 people in West Bengal, 139 in Maharashtra, 52 in Gujarat, 45 in Assam and 11 in Nagaland.

A total of 33 people have also been missing, 28 in Kerala and five in West Bengal, while 274 have been injured in rain-related incidents in the states.

The deluge and rains have hit 26 districts in Maharashtra, 23 in Assam, 23 in West Bengal, 14 in Kerala, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, 11 in Nagaland and 10 in Gujarat.

Kerala flood toll at 79, Rahul urges PM to deploy more Army, Navy personnel

Congress president Rahul Gandhi spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and requested him to increase the deployment of Army and Navy in flood-hit Kerala and give special financial assistance to the state.

Gandhi spoke to the prime minister over phone and announced it on Twitter. He noted that the tragedy is unparalleled in Kerala's history and the state is in "great pain".

Expressing concern over the flood situation in Kerala, he took to Twitter to make a fervent appeal to people for help by contributing to the chief minister's relief fund.

ALSO READ: Kerala floods: Rahul Gandhi asks people to contribute to CM's relief fund
He tagged the link of the chief minister's relief fund to his tweet asking people to contribute, and said "it is time to step up and help".

"Kerala is in great pain. I spoke to PM and requested him to massively increase deployment of the Army and Navy. I also said that it is critical that he gives the state special financial assistance as this is a tragedy without parallel in Kerala's history," he said on Twitter

Kerala floods: 26 dead, army deployed after red alert in several districts

Kerala Floods - In rain battered-Kerala, a red alert has been issued for Idukki and its adjoining districts in view of the possibility of release of more water from the Idukki reservoir, while entry of tourists to the high-range district was stopped after roads caved in at many places.

Five columns of Army has been deployed in the state's northern districts since Thursday night, and small bridges have been constructed to evacuate people stranded at various places in Kozhikode and Wayanad.

The Indian Navy has put on alert its Southern Naval Command in view of the rising water level in the Periyar river and a possible inundation of parts of Wellingdon Island surrounded by the backwaters of Kochi.

Twenty-six people have lost their lives since August 8 in landslides and floods caused due to the heavy rains as the South-west monsoon remains vigorous over Kerala.

The Idukki district administration has restricted tourists from visiting hilly areas and movement of heavy goods carriers also has been restricted.