Kerala floods: No outbreak of disease reported so far

New Delhi, Aug 21: The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) met for the fifth time in five days here to review the rescue and relief operations in the flood affected areas in Kerala. Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha, chaired the meeting. The Chief Secretary of Kerala participated in the meeting via video conference. He informed that there has been less rainfall and floodwater has started receding.

The department of Consumer Affairs has dispatched 100 MT of pulses today. The Ministry of Health has airlifted 52 MT of emergency medicines. Another 20 MT of medicines will reach Kerala by tonight. 20MT of bleaching powder and one crore Chlorine tablets will be dispatched by tomorrow. 12 medical teams have also been put on standby. No outbreak of disease has been reported so far.

The Ministry of Power has moved power equipment like electricity meters, coils, transformers etc. to restore the distribution network. Power generation has reached 2600 MW and no difficulty is envisaged on this score.

The department of Telecom has made operational 77000 [towers out of total 85000 towers in the State. Out of 1407 telephone exchanges, except 13 all are made functional. DoT has operationalised a helpline with number 1948 to help trace missing persons.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has made available 12000 KL of Kerosene. Adequate arrangements have been made for distribution of LPG cylinders. Adequate aviation fuel is also made available.

With regard to cattle fodder, 450 MT has been dispatched. Two lots of veterinary medicines have also been dispatched.

Railways have offered to supply required amounts of water and also transport relief material free of cost. Adequate quantities of milk and milk power have been made available by Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

The NCMC meeting was attended by Secretaries of Central Ministries including Health, Telecom, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Power, Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Senior Officers of Defence Forces, MHA and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).