Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan reached out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday, seeking more Central support to tackle the monsoon havoc in Kerala.
Mr. Vijayan urged the Prime Minister to step up Central support to the State by sending across more men and material to tackle the grave situation arising from the worst floods in its history. He informed the Prime Minister that all the rivers in the State were in spate and shutters of most major reservoirs were being kept open to let off flood waters. Several villages remain cut off on account of the floods, he said.
A press note issued by the Chief Minister’s Office said the Prime Minister had assured Mr. Vijayan that the Centre would provide all necessary help to Kerala.
During his telephonic interaction with the Home Minister, the Chief Minister requested Mr. Singh to despatch more units of the Army, National Disaster Response Force and Army Engineering Corps to the State along with dinghy boats and other rescue equipment. He also asked for C- 17 transport planes to airlift NDRF personnel and equipment to the flooded areas.
Mr. Vijayan urged Mr. Singh to talk to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and persuade the State to draw more water from the Mullaperiyar dam.
Pointing out that the water level in the reservoir had crossed the capacity mark of 142 ft, he called for immediate steps to bring it down to 139 ft. Mr. Vijayan also sent an e- mail message to Mr. Palaniswami urging him for immediate steps to lower the water level in the dam and ensure its safety.
Mr. Singh later informed the Chief Minister that the Secretary, Department of Home Affairs, had talked to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary on the issue.
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