South Indian state of Kerala hit with floods

World Today

South Indian state of Kerala hit with floods

The South Indian state of Kerala is also called “God’s own country”. But floods have wreaked havoc in the state killing 39 people and displacing thousands.

CGTN India correspondent, Shweta Bajaj reports from Kerala.

The south Indian state of Kerala is witnessing its worst floods since 1924. Since the 8th of August, 39 people have lost their lives and more than 50,000 people have been displaced. Many properties are now under water.

A temple but now is submerged under water. The government has said roads of 10,000 kilometers have been destroyed. The estimated financial loss of the natural disaster is $1.2 billion.

Kerala is known for its beaches and plantations is a popular tourist destination. Every year the state gets torrential rains. But this year the rains have been so severe that it has also led to landslides and the government has been forced to open water reservoirs because it was over flowing.

A junior school has been turned into a camp for many people who have been displaced across the state of Kerala. There are more 350 camps like these in various government and non-governmental establishments.

There are 27 families in the camp and approximately 100 people odd people. They came from the neighboring village.

They tell us their houses have been inundated with water. They reached here 4 days back and the officials say it will be at least 2 more days before the water level recedes allowing them to go back to their houses to access the damage.

The disaster is big in magnitude, but the relief and rescue operations were done on a war footing.

The Kerala state disaster management along with the National Disaster Relief force of India, the Indian army and Indian navy pulled a rescue operation that last many days and saved many lives.

Even though life has started to limp back, it will be a long time before these people who have lost their houses to see any sense of normalcy.