Rebuilding Kerala, No Easy Task

Rebuilding Kerala will be no easy task, but the state government is trying to tackle immediate concerns on a war-footing

- Cithara Paul

Almost all schools in Kerala reopened on August 29 after an unusually long Onam vacation. A good number of the students had faced the flood firsthand, and adding to their woes was the fact that their textbooks and notebooks were lost. But, they need not have worried. The govern ment offered them new textbooks. And, unknown friends across the state, and even Malayalis from other states, had copied down the notes for them. Such notes of positivity play a big part in boosting the morale of those devastated by the deluge. But there is a long way to go.

Official figures put the number of deaths at 322, despite the brilliant rescue operations, and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the total loss is likely to be much higher than the initial estimate of ₹20,000 crore. The state government declared emergency aid of ₹10,000 to the people affected by floods and ₹10 lakh to those whose livelihoods were lost. Interest-free loans of up to ₹10 lakh for small traders who had suffered losses and home loans of up to ₹5 lakh, without margin money, were also announced. A state-level bankers’ council met on August 29 to discuss moratorium on loans for the affected people.

The local self-government department (LSGD) estimated that about 5.78 lakh houses were affected. More than 50,000 were washed away or had become uninhabitable. The Kerala government handed over ₹330 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to the districts. Of this, ₹99 crore was emergency aid to repair houses. The government also announced ₹4 lakh for families who had lost their homes and ₹10 lakh for those who lost homes and lands, citing the Central norm (₹95,100 for a destroyed home) as inadequate.