Kerala floods: Death toll rises to 167; 15,000 people rescued in 9 days

Agencies
August 17, 2018

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 17: As per the latest reports on Friday, the death toll in Kerala floods has risen to 167.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the same during a press conference here.

Around 15,000 people have been rescued from the flood-hit state in the last nine days.

The numbers have been given by Army Karnataka and Kerala (K&K) Sub-Area, headquartered at Bengaluru, under the name, 'Operation Sahayog'. It were carried out by the Pangode military station, Pangode and Defence security cops, Kannur.

Operation 'Karuna', carried out by the Indian Air Force, has rescued almost 170 people through airlifting and winching.

The ongoing situation led the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation to cancel 8,415 tickets. They refunded Rs. 52,78,126 to the passengers from August 9 to August 17.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that he will be visiting the state in the evening to review the situation.

"Had a telephone conversation with Kerala CM Shri Pinarayi Vijayan just now. We discussed the flood situation across the state and reviewed rescue operations. Later this evening, I will be heading to Kerala to take stock of the unfortunate situation due to flooding," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

Meanwhile, a red alert was sounded in 13 districts of Kerala, except Kasaragod today.

The Indian Coast Guard's rescue and relief team from Vandiperiyar has been shifted to the flood-affected Manjumala village in Kerala's Idukki district.

So far, the team has rescued 16 stranded people from the village. Food and dry ration have been distributed among them.

Five units of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) reached Thiruvananthapuram and were deployed for rescue operations. 35 teams are expected to reach there today.

Kerala has been witnessing incessant rain since past few days, causing flooding and landslide in the state.

The Centre has launched massive rescue and relief operations in the state owing to the flood situation which is worsening by the day.

Yesterday, in view of the prevailing floods situation in Kerala, a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) was held to scale up assistance and ensured continued relief and rescue operations.

Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been tasked to mobilise additional manpower, boats, and helicopters to scale up the rescue and relief operations.

The Chief Minister had earlier said that the state is facing the worst flood situation since 1924.

Earlier on Thursday, NDRF teams evacuated 926 people to a safer place at Pathanamthitta, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Alappuzha. Moreover, the Army also built a 35-feet long bridge and rescued around 100 people including children and senior citizens from Malampuzha's Valiyakadu village.

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News Network
May 2,2020

New Delhi, May 2: With 2,293 new cases in the last 24 hours, the highest number of cases in a single day, India's COVID-19 tally reached 37,336 on Saturday, including 1,218 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
As many as 71 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

Out of the total number, 9,951 people have been cured/discharged/migrated.

In the state of Maharashtra, the number of coronavirus positive cases has crossed the 10,000-mark with at least 485 deaths.

The positive cases in Maharashtra has reached 11,506, including 1,879 discharged cases.

After Maharashtra, Gujarat has the most number of COVID-19 cases (4,721). The state has reported 236 deaths, while 735 people have been discharged.

The Centre on Friday extended the ongoing nationwide lockdown for two more weeks with effect from May 4 till May 17 while allowing different sets of relaxations in red, orange and green zones.

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Agencies
January 8,2020

New Delhi, Jan 8: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) President Aishe Ghosh has filed a complaint over the violence that took place at the varsity campus on Sunday.

"I am filing this complaint for the incident in which a mob conspired and acted with common intention to assault, intimidate and attempt to murder me, and request you to register an FIR and apprehend culprits at the earliest," the complaint read.

She said that on January 5, in the afternoon, she received information from students in the campus that some students affiliated to ABVP along with other unidentified men and women had gathered with weapons like rods, sledgehammers and lathis near Ganga Bus Stop.

"I along with Nikhil Mathew (MA Labour Studies) who was also present there, were surrounded by a group of persons of that mob most of whom were wearing masks. The mob of 20-30 persons dragged me behind a car standing near the 24*7 and surrounded me and despite my pleading did not let me go and attacked me with rods while I had fallen down. I remember that one of the people was of medium height wearing a brownish-red sweatshirt with UCLA written on it. I saw his face as he was facing me and did not have a mask on and can identify him if I see him," Ghosh wrote in her complaint.

"I was attacked by the above-mentioned persons collectively and was hit on the head multiple times with iron rods. I fell to the ground and my head started bleeding, and some of them kicked me and hit me with the rod on my hand and rest of the body including my head, chest and back."

"I am attaching with this complaint a copy of the MLC which details my injuries. Nikhil Mathew tried to save me but was also hit with an iron hammer and other weapons on his head and arms. The intention of the group of men and their acts was definitely to murder me and other persons associated with me," she said.

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News Network
May 10,2020

Kochi, May 10: A total of 698 people who were evacuated from Maldives on INS Jalashwa, arrived here on Sunday around 9.30am (India time), said the Cochin Port officials. This operation is part of Indian Navy's 'Operation Samudra Setu'.

Another 121 from Lakshadweep also arrived at Mattanchery, near here. on MV Arabian Sea - a passenger/cargo ship sailing under the Indian Flag.

Samudrika Cruise Terminal has been opened up for handling the expatriates and Port has taken up necessary refurbishments consistent with the medical protocols.

The Cochin Port Trust officials said the first group of 698 persons evacuated from Maldives comprises 595 males and 103 females. Of this, 14 are children below 10 years and 19 pregnant women.

Among the 698 passengers, 440 are from Kerala, 156 from Tamil Nadu and the rest are from various states in the country.

Ernakulam district collector S. Suhas said all those from Tamil Nadu will be sent to their state in the bus.

The ship is berthed at BTP Jetty and the disembarkation procedures are being carried out at Samudrika Cruise Terminal. It will take around three hours for all the passengers to be cleared.

According to the protocols, all the Keralaites will be sent for 14 days institutional quarantine at their respective home districts.

Those who are having exemption from institutional quarantine have to be at home isolation.

Among the 121 who arrived on MV Arabian Sea from Lakshadweep include students and those Keralaites who work in the island.

The protocol for these 121 passengers is that since they have been checked there, all these people can go to their homes and be in isolation for 14 days.

The general guideline is if any one shows any symptoms of Covid-19, all such people will be directly sent to Covid hospitals, here.

The distance between Male and Kochi is 493 nautical miles and it began its voyage to Kochi on Friday evening.

INS Jalashwa is an Indian naval ship attached to the Eastern Naval Command. It was acquired from the United States and was commissioned in 2007.

INS Jalashwa has the capacity to accommodate 1000 troops, and comes equipped with extensive medical facilities, including four operation theatres, and a 12-bed ward facility.

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