Kerala floods: As rains ease, Kochi naval base inspected for commercial flight operations

Sunday morning saw rains easing off in various parts of Kerala. The Indian Meteorological Department lifted red alert for the state sounding an orange alert for 10 districts and a yellow and a green alert for the remaining four districts.

The MeT Department forecast heavy rainfall only at one or two places in Kerala on Sunday. Flood waters too began to recede from several places, news agency Reuters reported.

Kerala, which usually receives heavy rainfall, has seen over 250 per cent more rain than normal between August 8 and August 15 this year. As a result, the state authorities were prompted to release water from as many as 33 dangerously full dams, sending a surge into its rivers.

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Meanwhile, the Central government today said a joint team of different aviation-related bodies and CISF inspected the Cochin Naval Base.

The Centre, on Saturday, announced the operation of commercial flights from the Kochi's naval base from Monday to aid rescue efforts in Kerala.

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said the watch hour at Vijayawada and Begumpet airports has been extended to facilitate relief operations by IAF aircraft. Watch hour refers to the period during which the airport remains open for operation.

"A Joint team comprising representatives from DGCA, BCAS, CISF, AAI and Indian Navy carried out an inspection of #Cochin Naval Base today to check the feasibility of scheduled operations from there. Steps being taken to start operations with ATR-72 from Monday, 20th August," Prabhu tweeted.

The base will be used by carriers such as Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, to operate 70-seater ATR aircraft to places such as Bengaluru.

Kochi airport was announced to resume operations from August 26 in the wake of flooding and heavy rains.

"In view of disruption of flights from Cochin airport due to floods, a joint team sent by @MoCA_GoI has approved starting of scheduled commercial flights using ATRs by Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, between Bangalore and Cochin Naval Airbase," Prabhutweeted last evening.

As of now, both domestic and international flights to Kochi are being diverted to Trivandrum and Calicut.

Over 300 people have lost their lives with more than 3 lakh people displaced and homeless due to the ongoing floods.

While the Central and the state governments have pledged monetary aid and all possible assistance to flood-ravaged Kerala, relief teams from private organisations, apart from the relentless work of Army, Navy and Air Force teams, have been working round the clock for relief and rescue mission.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called it a disaster, something that has never happened in the history of Kerala over last 100 years.