Kerala rains: Cabinet announces ₹12 lakh for home & property loss, hikes crop loss aid by 25%

The state cabinet on Wednesday decided on a slew of relief measures in the wake of widespread havoc caused by heavy showers in Kerala. Chief Minister V D Satheesan said the relief aid for those who have lost house and property has been hiked from ₹10 lakh to ₹12 lakh. Those residents whose houses have been flooded will be given an immediate aid of ₹10,000. Satheesan said affected people will receive this amount even if they haven't registered their names in the relief camps.

An amount of ₹6 lakh will be given to people who have reported complete loss of their homes due to flooding. The government will give ₹8 lakh to families of deceased. Till now, the state has recorded 26 deaths in rain-related disasters. 11 people have been injured and four are reported missing. The Agriculture Department has recorded a loss of ₹67.44 crore across an area of 1882 hectares. As many as 23,537 farmers have been affected.

The state now runs 462 relief camps housing 27048 people. Large number of camps are functioning in Kottayam, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta. The Chief Minister also announced a 25% hike in crop-loss assistance. The cabinet also decided to distribute ₹10,000 to people whose shops have been afected. Satheesan also said steps will be taken to revamp 'Punargeham' scheme for fishermen community considering the fact that the amount offered as assistance is inadequate.