Kerala to pay Rs 5 lakh to kin of those that died in recent floods, landslides

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has decided to provide Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the kin of those who lost their lives in the recent landslides and floods due to the heavy rains in the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. The state government will also provide Rs 10 lakh to those who lost their homes and land in rain-related disasters, the Chief Minister said in a release. Of the Rs 5 lakh to be paid to families of those who died in the recent disasters, Rs 4 lakh would come from the State Disaster Response Fund and the remaining Rs 1 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, he said. The decisions were taken in a Cabinet meeting which also decided to provide financial assistance to the family of Vaishakh H of Rashtriya Rifle Battalion who was killed in an encounter with terrorists on 11 October. The government has decided that after the Military Welfare Department pays Rs 10 lakh, towards the remainder of the Rs 27.5 lakh loan he had availed for building a house for his family, any remaining amount of the loan would be paid out of the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, the Chief Minister said in the release. Vaishakh was among the five army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), who died in a gunfight with terrorists during an operation in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Besides these, he also announced that Rs 5 lakh each would be paid out of the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund to the families of the two men who died due to electrocution on Monday. One of the families would also be provided a house under the life scheme, he said. According to the police the two men, found dead in a canal in Kochi, died due to electrocution during suspected illegal electrofishing activity. In connection with providing financial assistance to those who lost loved ones, homes and land in the recent disasters, the government has directed the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) to prepare a list, in a timely manner, of the villages eligible to be designated as flood affected based on the severity of the disasters and the difficulties faced by the people there, the chief minister said in the release. He also said that families living in homes which suffered more than 15 percent damage in the disasters, would be considered as a disaster-affected family. The approach adopted during the 2019 natural disaster will be continued now also for providing assistance to those whose homes and land have been partially or completely damaged, he added. The government also decided to extend by a year the order exempting stamp duty and fee for attested copies of documents lost or destroyed in the floods of August 2018, 2019 and 2021, the chief minister said.