Flood rehabilitation lapses: Kerala Oppn stages walkout

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the state Assembly on Tuesday that it may take at least three years for the state to fully recover from the damages caused in the devastating floods.

The Congress-led Opposition, the United Democratic Front, which alleged that the exercise of rebuilding Kerala was progressing at snail's pace, staged a walkout from the Assembly after they were denied permission for an adjournment motion notice.

The house witnessed heated arguments, with Chief Minster even alleging that the Opposition was trying to play to the gallery.

The chief minister informed the Assembly that out of the 15,324 houses that were fully damaged in the floods, 5,422 were already constructed. Financial assistance was provided to 9,967 of the 10,426 houses that were restored by the owners themselves. A total of Rs. 1,651 crore was distributed among 3.54 lakh farmers affected by the flood so far.

He also said that while Kerala suffered damages to the tune of Rs. 31,000 crore in the floods, the centre didn't even provide one-sixth of it. He accused the Opposition of not protesting against it.