An Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) constituted by the Central government to inspect relief works in flood-hit areas of Wayanad district in Kerala completed their three-day (August 8-10) visit on Saturday.
Till now, a total of 30 persons have been rescued, 520 persons evacuated and 112 dead bodies retrieved by the NDRF rescue teams.
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Data from the Ministry of Home Affairs indicates that over the past five years, the Union government released around ₹1,200 crore as the Centre’s share in the State Disaster Response Force out of the total State Disaster Response Fund of ₹1,780 crore.
“This year, on April 1, Kerala SDRF account had around ₹395 crore. The first instalment of Central share of SDRF for the ongoing year of over ₹145.60 crore was released in advance on July 31,” Ministry officials said.
The Centre also released a sum of ₹445 crore for State Disaster Mitigation Fund in the past five years.
On July 30, due to incessant and heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, a major landslide occurred at Mundakki, Chooralmala, Vellarimala Village, in Wayanad.
The Central government immediately sprung into action through the deployment of over 1,200 rescuers of NDRF, Army, Air Force, Navy, Fire services, Civil Defence, among others for rescue and relief operations at the incident site.
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More than 100 ambulances along with doctors and other medical staff were deployed for medical support and treatment.
The Indian Army erected a 190-foot Bailey bridge in Wayanad, which has been crucial in facilitating the movement of heavy machinery and ambulances. “Construction of this bridge was completed in just 71 hours, significantly enhancing the rescue operations by allowing heavy vehicles and machinery to be mobilised to rescue around 200 people who were stranded due to damage of the bridge,” officials said.
