The death toll in the devastating floods caused by heavy rainfall in the India's western state of Kerala rose to 97 people on Thursday, while thousands of others remain stranded across the area, local media reported.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2018) The death toll in the devastating floods caused by heavy rainfall in the India's western state of Kerala rose to 97 people on Thursday, while thousands of others remain stranded across the area, local media reported.
A search and rescue operation was underway in the flood-affected territories, the Indian Express newspaper reported.
The Ernakulam city police officer Rahul Nair told the Hindustan Times daily that hundreds of people were in need of help across the state.
The Indian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that the Navy had dispatched 24 teams to Kerala help cope with the disaster.
"India Coast Guard has deployed 10 Disaster Response Teams with 10 Gemini boats in various flood affected regions of Kerala � As per the request by Govt of Kerala, additional 20 boats, diving & relief teams of @indiannavy and 12 more boats with Disaster Response teams of @IndiaCoastGuard along w/ @adgpi's 20 boats with Engineering Task Force have been deployed," the Defense Ministry wrote on Twitter.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the Indian Air Force would send more than 10 additional helicopters, while the Navy would dispatch additional teams to the area, according to media reports.
The media said that authorities fear the outbreak of epidemics in the area, since the drinking water was at risk of being contaminated by water-borne microbes.
The floods reportedly disrupted operation of transport and education facilities. The state authorities decided to open 35 out of 39 dams in the region, for the first time in the state's history.
The flood hit Kerala in early August and was the result of one of the most powerful monsoons India has seen in decades.
