Kerala floods: Narendra Modi reaches Thiruvananthapuram, will take aerial survey of affected areas today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram late on Friday evening. He will be taking a tour on Saturday to take stock of the flood situation in Kerala. [caption id=“attachment_4957251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. AP[/caption] On Saturday, the prime minister will leave Raj Bhavan for an aerial recce of the affected areas along with Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan at 7 am, following which he will chair a meeting in Kochi at 9.39 am. He is expected to leave for Delhi by 10.30 am. Earlier in the day, Modi also spoke with Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and discussed the situation. “The suffering of the people of Kerala has been in his thoughts for the last few days. He will review the status of relief and rescue operations, and will also undertake an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Friday. Modi left for Kerala after attending the last rites of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Kerala has been severely hit by monsoon rains and rivers and dam reservoirs are overflowing, inundating a large part of the state. At least 100 people died on Thursday in rain-related incidents in the state and according to state government figures, 164 people have lost their lives in the state since 8 August and over 3 lakh people have been displaced. With inputs from PTI