Receding floodwaters yesterday left Indian troops and rescuers the grim task of hunting for bodies left by the worst monsoon in a century in Kerala State as the death toll rose above 400.
With nearly three-quarters of a million people packed into relief camps in the southern state, known for its tourist beaches and hill resorts, authorities also fear outbreaks of disease.
After a week of fierce downpours, rainfall yesterday eased and flood levels have fallen in many districts. Army helicopters and boats kept up missions to find trapped survivors, and drop food and water in isolated villages.
Photo: AFP
Officials said 22,000 people were rescued on Sunday.
At least 30 bodies were also found, taking the death toll above 200 since the torrential rain started falling on Aug. 8 and more than 400 since the monsoon started in June.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the priority was to provide clean drinking water and restore power supplies to the state of 33 million people.
“The total number of people taking refuge at the 5,645 relief camps has risen to 724,649,” Vijayan told reporters on Sunday.
He said health officers would be deployed in each village to check the spread of communicable diseases.
Thousands of army, navy and air force personnel fanned out to help those stranded in remote and hilly areas.
Dozens of helicopters have been dropping tonnes of food, medicine and water over areas cut off due to damaged roads and bridges.
In worst-hit areas, such as Thrissur and Chengannur, rescuers are searching inundated houses, where they have found the bodies of those trapped by the fast-rising floodwaters.
Fishermen have sailed inland from Kerala’s coast to join the search, as volunteers set up soup kitchens and an international appeal was made for financial help.
Vijayan praised the fishermen for joining the rescue mission.
The state government said each boat would get 3,000 rupees (US$43) for each day of their work and that authorities would pay for any damage to them.
The floods have caused an estimated US$3 billion in damage, but the bill is likely to rise as the scale of devastation becomes clearer.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese