State Police Chief Loknath Behera has lauded members of the Kerala Police for the role they played in the massive rescue effort.
In a message to members of the force, he said:
"You deserve a big hand after all the hard work you have done as part of our rescue operations during the just ended, unprecedented floods and natural calamities in our State.
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You were one among the 40,000 police personnel deployed in the trouble-hit areas. Or, you were one among the police personnel who co-ordinated or assisted these 40,000 from remote. Either way, you deserve a big salute. Because, you saved as many as 53,000 lives and assisted the defence force and also thousands of kind-hearted volunteers-at-large to help 10,00,000 stranded people to save their lives.
You have played instrumental roles in getting people evicted in advance. You evicted many who were stranded in the various water-logged areas braving heavy downpour and strong under-water-currents. You had to even politely encourage and properly convince those who had shown reluctance to leave their water-logged home.
You managed more than 400 boats, including the fishing boats transported from the coast. You carried relief materials on shoulders and heads and properly co-ordinated the kind-hearted volunteers-at-large to properly transport relief materials, to clean up the relief camps and also to rehabilitate the rescued people.
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You managed vehicular traffic with precision. You volunteered in the civil operations to open the various damaged roads for traffic. You controlled law and order to keep the citizens safe. You precisely managed the State intelligence network to avoid chaotic situations in this unexpected scenario.
You may be one among those attached to the special police control rooms set up at Pathanamthitta, Chenganoor, Thiruvalla, Ranni, Aluva and Chalakkudi, or at the general control rooms of the disaster management authority or at the State control room set up at the Police Head Quarters. You were attending calls @ 1.5 calls/rescue requests.
You may be one among those who sensitively served the stranded people or their kith and kin through our official Facebook pages, WhatsApp or other facilities in the cyber space.
You may be one among those who set up and maintained dedicated helpline numbers with the help of BSNL.
You may have even analysed thousands of cyber messages and then handed over to the respective rescue teams for precise physical action in the trouble-hit areas. You may have battled fake news in the cyber space. But, you saw to it that our State has survived this great disaster with minimum loss.
Last but not the least, you may even have had to carry out your police duties 24x7 even when your own houses were found submerged and your family members were found helplessly stranded in the water-logged areas.
You all have demonstrated the potential, strength and the camaraderie of the Kerala Police. You all deserve a big salute from me. Thank you once again."