UAE Offers Rs 700 Cr As Financial Assistance To Rebuild Kerala

New Delhi: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has offered Rs 700 crore as financial assistance to rebuild the flood-affected Kerala, informed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday.

The UAE has been one of the first countries to express solidarity with the people of Kerala. “The people of Kerala have always been and are still part of our success story,” UAE vice-president Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum had tweeted.

The UAE government had also formed a national emergency committee to help the flood victims.

The worst flood of the century has so far claimed nearly 400 lives in the southern state of India.

The Centre has declared the devastating floods in the state a ‘calamity of severe nature’. “Keeping in view the intensity and magnitude of the floods and landslides in Kerala, this is a calamity of a severe nature for all practical purposes,” a Home Ministry official said in New Delhi.

This categorisation will enable the state get greater monetary and other assistance from the Centre.

The central government has also scaled up the relief and rescue operations. More than 43,000 persons have been rescued so far, of them 600 people on Monday. A total 12.47 lakh people have been put up in relief camps.

Meanwhile, the state cabinet has suggested Governor P Sathasivam hold a special assembly session on August 30 to discuss post-flood relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction of Kerala.

Notably, Kerala on Tuesday sought Rs 2,600 crore special package from the Centre even as the state struggled to find its feet after the devastating flood.