European Union scales up emergency aid from Rs 1.6 crore to Rs 8.4 crore

ALAPPUZHA: The European Union has stepped up its efforts to help rebuild Kerala and activated its Civil Protection Mechanism (CPM) for the purpose. It has scaled up its emergency aid to the state to Rs 8.42 crore from Rs 1.60 crore announced in August and channelled through the Indian Red Cross.

The European Union said in a statement on Wednesday that the CPM was activated upon the request of the UN resident coordinator and a water and sanitation expert from the Netherlands. It was deployed to Kerala on September 17 as part of an international team to assess the needs on the ground following the deluge.

Established in 2001, the CPM, which includes all 28 European Union member states in addition to Iceland, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey, was intended to enable coordinated assistance to victims of natural and man-made disasters in Europe and elsewhere.

Christos Stylianides, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, tweeted to say that the services of CPM and the additional fund would help deliver essential supplies to the most vulnerable communities and promote health activities to counter water-borne diseases.

The European Commission, European Union's (EU) independent executive arm, said that the floods took the lives of close to 500 people, while forcing more than 15 lakh people to flee their homes and take shelter in over 5600 temporary relief camps across the state as of September 6.

“Due to the large-scale flooding and its subsequent landslides, some 24, 000 shelters, nearly 10, 000 km of road infrastructure and more than 57, 000 hectares of crops have been damaged. Although water levels have receded in many parts, humanitarian needs remain immense amongst the affected populations, particularly those in remote areas,” it said.

Quoting meteorological department, it said Kerala, which is home to 44 rivers and 42 dams, has this year received 40 per cent more rainfall than the expected average through August.

“A series of torrential monsoon downpours caused the rivers to overflow and the dams to open their gates, triggering what is considered the worst floods to hit Kerala in nearly a century. All 14 districts across the state have been affected,” it said.