Govt Announces Interest-Free Loans Up To Rs 10L For Traders, Small Biz; Online System To Help Flood Victims Get Compensation; Govt To Focus On Proper Waste Disposal

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday that the government was taking measures to facilitate interest-free loans up to Rs 10 lakh each to small-scale industrialists and traders affected by floods, besides additional loans up to Rs 5 lakh each for those requiring it for repairing damaged houses.
For disbursement of financial aid of Rs 10,000 to each family leaving relief camps, the CM said an amount of Rs 242 cr has already been sanctioned from chief minister’s distress relief fund (CMDRF).“The aid comprises Rs 3,800 per family from state disaster relief fund (SDRF) and Rs 6,200 from CMDRF,” he told reporters here on Friday. The amount will be transferred to bank accounts of the affected, for which details have to be provided to revenue officials at relief camps. “Those who have already left the camps are also eligible for the aid,” the CM said.
The government will be launching an online system for flood-affected people where they can register to get compensation. “People can on their own register through an application form on government website giving all details including that of losses or through Akshaya centres free of cost. Besides, the government, with the support of voluntary organisations, will collect details of affected houses and people through a mobile application,” Vijayan said.
As part of the rehabilitation process, the government is also planning to establish an IT-based system to get an exact figure of houses and shops affected and estimate losses. The compensations will be fixed through a local social auditing, “not just in flooded areas, but in all places affected by rain-related calamities”, the CM said.
According to current estimates, about 7,000 houses were destroyed completely and more than 50,000 got partially damaged. The total number of relief camps in the state has come down from 2,774 to 2,257, while the number of families in camps has decreased from 2.78 lakh to 2.18 lakh. “Around 1.31 lakh houses have been cleaned and made habitable, which is around 31% of the total flooded houses. The squads will continue with their cleaning activities, for which the state is witnessing a well-coordinated effort,” the CM said.
Out of 25.6 lakh electricity connections affected, 23.36 connections have been restored, while 14,314 transformers out of 16158 shut down during floods have been switched on.
Raising serious concern over the accumulated waste in flooded areas, the CM said every local body should ensure proper segregation of waste and identify suitable places to store them until agencies are entrusted to shift or handle them. “There are plastic, electronic and other hazardous waste materials, which should not be dumped anywhere, especially in water bodies. Clean Kerala Company has been entrusted to hand over the waste material to agencies for proper treatment. The local bodies should also store non-recyclable waste for a longer time, which might take time to get agencies for removal,” he said.
For lost documents, the CM said the government will conduct adalats starting from first week of September. “All government departments will share available database with IT department and biometric data too will be used to retrieve documents. A software is being developed to facilitate this,” he added.