Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 10: Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today demanded that States be allowed to use funds from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) unconditionally for Covid defence activities, removing the current 25% limit. He made this demand to the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi during the video conference meeting of the PM with the Chief Ministers of flood-affected States.

Briefing the media, the Chief Minister said, “The setting up of Covid testing and quarantine facilities has put a huge financial burden on the states. Therefore, generous assistance is expected from the Centre to meet this expenditure. The floods too have come at a time when the numbers of Covid patients are increasing. The current monsoon has had a major impact on the economic condition of the state battling the pandemic. The Prime Minister was informed that a comprehensive report on the losses incurred by us will be submitted to the Centre.”

The CM also thanked the Prime Minister for sending 10 NDRF companies to Kerala to deal with the floods, for the assistance provided by the NDRF in rescue operations in the aftermath of the landslide at Idukki Rajamalai and in the wake of the Karipur plane crash. He also raised several issues concerning Kerala to his attention.

The Prime Minister said that the Department of Water & Meteorology and the National Remote Sensing Centre would co-ordinate the use of technology to provide maximum weather warnings.

Despite the severity of the current monsoon, Kerala has been experiencing disasters for the third year in a row. The state has taken all possible precautions and preparations to deal with the ongoing heavy rains. Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Wayanad and Idukki are the worst affected districts. People have been evacuated from dangerous areas. 686 relief camps have been set up in compliance with the Covid protocol and 22,830 people from 6,967 families are put up there. The water level in the dams is closely monitored and warnings are issued to the people based on it.

The CM also informed that the Chief Secretary of Kerala has requested the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu to draw as much water possible from the Mullaperiyar dam through the tunnel to the Vaigai Dam in Tamil Nadu and to reduce the amount of water flowing down from the Mullaperiyar dam. Care has been taken to increase the flow of water by removing the accumulated silt in the Pampa River to prevent flooding in low lying areas.

Minister of Health & Social Justice, Smt K K Shailaja; Revenue Minister, Shri E Chandrasekharan, Chief Secretary, Dr Vishwas Mehta IAS, and State Police Chief, Shri Loknath Behra IPS, DGP were also present for the video-conference meeting with the PM.

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Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 10: Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today demanded that States be allowed to use funds from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) unconditionally for Covid defence activities, removing the current 25% limit. He made this demand to the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi during the video conference meeting of the PM with the Chief Ministers of flood-affected States.

Briefing the media, the Chief Minister said, “The setting up of Covid testing and quarantine facilities has put a huge financial burden on the states. Therefore, generous assistance is expected from the Centre to meet this expenditure. The floods too have come at a time when the numbers of Covid patients are increasing. The current monsoon has had a major impact on the economic condition of the state battling the pandemic. The Prime Minister was informed that a comprehensive report on the losses incurred by us will be submitted to the Centre.”

The CM also thanked the Prime Minister for sending 10 NDRF companies to Kerala to deal with the floods, for the assistance provided by the NDRF in rescue operations in the aftermath of the landslide at Idukki Rajamalai and in the wake of the Karipur plane crash. He also raised several issues concerning Kerala to his attention.

The Prime Minister said that the Department of Water & Meteorology and the National Remote Sensing Centre would co-ordinate the use of technology to provide maximum weather warnings.

Despite the severity of the current monsoon, Kerala has been experiencing disasters for the third year in a row. The state has taken all possible precautions and preparations to deal with the ongoing heavy rains. Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Wayanad and Idukki are the worst affected districts. People have been evacuated from dangerous areas. 686 relief camps have been set up in compliance with the Covid protocol and 22,830 people from 6,967 families are put up there. The water level in the dams is closely monitored and warnings are issued to the people based on it.

The CM also informed that the Chief Secretary of Kerala has requested the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu to draw as much water possible from the Mullaperiyar dam through the tunnel to the Vaigai Dam in Tamil Nadu and to reduce the amount of water flowing down from the Mullaperiyar dam. Care has been taken to increase the flow of water by removing the accumulated silt in the Pampa River to prevent flooding in low lying areas.

Minister of Health & Social Justice, Smt K K Shailaja; Revenue Minister, Shri E Chandrasekharan, Chief Secretary, Dr Vishwas Mehta IAS, and State Police Chief, Shri Loknath Behra IPS, DGP were also present for the video-conference meeting with the PM.