Kerala floods: PM Modi in Kochi to take aerial survey of situation

As the worst floodin a century killed 324 people in Kerala and made more than 200,000 people homeless, the government launched a massive rescue and relief operations.

Prime minister Narendra Modi who is Kerala to take stock of the situation, left from Thiruvananthapuram for an aerial survey of flood-affected areas of Kochi.

PM Modi has also spoken with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and discussed the situation on Friday.

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As the waters have risen, many people have found it increasingly hard to access food and other basic amenities, or to reach safety.

Brigadier Arun CG was quoted saying by news agency ANI, "Around 700 soldiers along with specialised engineering task forces carrying boats and specialised equipment are on the ground"

So far around 4,800 people have been rescued in the past nine days, he informed adding, "I assure that we'll work day and night till Kerala comes back to normal".

ANI also posted a video showing the aerial visual of the devastating condition.

Following the flood situation, Kochi airport operations to remain suspended till August 26.

Meanwhile, Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao on Friday also announced Rs 25 crore and 10 reverse osmosis plants worth Rs 2.5 crore for flood-ravaged Kerala.

Israel prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu showed its support to India and sent condolences to thefamilies who have lost their loved ones in thefloods on Twitter.

The foreign ministry of Canada also tweeted, "stands with the people of #India who have lost loved ones and are affected by the devastating monsoon floods in the Kerala region, the worst in a century. #KeralaFloods".

Further heavy rainfall has been forecast for most parts of the state on Saturday, and authorities said they planned to implement controlled releases of water from dams to manage flows and minimise damage.

Rains are expected to subside to "light to moderate" levels on Sunday, weather office said.