The TRS government in Telangana released Rs 25 crore cash and relief material worth another Rs 25 crore for flood hit Kerala on Saturday. A specially prepared nutritious baby food, “Balamrutam” of around 100 tonnes is being sent to the marooned areas for the immediate relief of starving children in and around Kochi.
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), who presided a high level meeting in Hyderabad on Friday night, asked the officials to stand by Kerala and extend all possible help through cash and kind. Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi told The Sunday Guardian on Saturday that the government would be sending Rs 2.5 crore worth RO equipment to purify rain water and help ensure drinking water in Kerala.
A large number of devotees from Telangana visit Kerala throughout the year for Sabarimalai pilgrimage and a large number of people from the state reside in Hyderabad. Efforts are underway to send medicines, clothes and other material for the flood trapped people in interior areas and the government would be enlisting volunteers to help relief operations in Kerala.
CM KCR called upon industrialists, IT professionals and trade bodies to join relief operations in Kerala and invited donations from common pubic through the CM Relief Fund. The public should mention that their donations were meant for Kerala flood hit, so that the money would be directly sent the state, an official release from the CMO.
Kerala CM Vijayan spoke to KCR and sought all kind of help to tide over the humanitarian crisis that has gripped his state for the last few days due to incessant rains. The alarming part is that there are no signs of respite in rain situation as the monsoons are active besides moderate depressions in the Bay of Bengal in the next couple of days.
The TDP government in neighbouring Andhra announced Rs 10 crore to Kerala. CM Chandrababu Naidu in Amaravati announced that his government would stand by the Kerala government in this hour of crisis. “We will send more relief material in the coming days as individuals and companies are coming forward to donate cash and kind,” he said on Saturday.
As of now, 324 people have died and 2.23 lakh people are rendered homeless due to the flood, worst of its kind in the last 100 years. The Kerala government has set up 1,500 shelters for the homeless but that is not enough as more and more people are turning up.