Kerala Cancels All Govt-funded events For 1 Year After Devastating Floods
Kerala Cancels All Govt-funded events For 1 Year After Devastating Floods Kerala government has decided to cancel all the government funded festivals for one whole year and to use the money for flood relief. This year, the devastating floods in Kerala have left many displaced and hundreds dead. And that is why; the Pinarayi Vijayan government has decided to use the festival money in the betterment of the state and its people. Even though the floodwaters have started receding in most of the areas, but floodwaters have destroyed many houses and forced thousands of people to seek shelter in their relief camps. The annual school of arts festival was scheduled in December, this year, which is now cancelled. The state government also cancelled the state Film Festival, University Arts Festival and all the tourism festivals. About 370 people are dead while a total of 10,28,000 people have been sheltered in 3,274 camps in the flood-hit districts, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday while tonnes of emergency aid poured in from all over the country. The massive flood in Kerala has been declared a calamity of severe nature, the Union home ministry said on Monday. “Keeping in view the intensity and magnitude of the floods and landslides in Kerala, this is a calamity of a severe nature for all practical purposes,” a home ministry official said. Also Read: Kerala floods: About 370 dead, Over 1 million in relief camps Meanwhile the Centre, while calling Kerala floods, a calamity of a ‘severe nature’, exempted basic customs duty and IGST on goods supplied for Kerala relief operations. -PTC NEWS
