August 18, 2018: Kerala continues to reel under an unprecedented spell of rains. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the southern state.
Vast areas of the state are flooded and relief and rescue operations are continuing in all affected regions. A meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee was held on Thursday (August 16) to ensure continued and scale up assistance to the State.
On the instructions of Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha chaired the meeting in which senior officers of Central Ministries including Defence, Home, Water Resources and Chiefs of Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, NDRF, National Disaster Management Authority, Central Water Commission were present.
Kerala also participated over video conference represented by Chief Secretary and his team. Cabinet Secretary has directed that immediate and continued assistance be provided to Kerala to meet this crisis. The centre is fully supporting Kerala and has launched massive relief and rescue operations in the State.
The Cabinet Secretary also directed that relief material including supply of drinking water, dry food packets and powdered milk should also be made available to Kerala. Required instructions were also given for proper reservoir management in Mullaperiyar Dam..
18 teams of NDRF, 9 columns and 8 teams of Engineering Task Force (ETC) of the Army, 22 teams of Coast Guard, 24 diving teams of Navy along with helicopters, aircrafts, boats, have been dispatched to assist Kerala in rescue operations.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, PM spoke to Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan regarding flood situation in the state and discussed the flood situation in the state. (DD News)
