Kerala is facing an unprecedented calamity which has not visited this southern coastal state in the last one hundred years. Incessant rain in the first 20 days of August has rendered millions homeless. More than 300 people have already died. Lakhs of hectares of standing crop submerged under water without any scope of saving. The rough estimate of the Kerala Government has put the amount of loss at Rs.20 thousand crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already surveyed the marooned State in an aerial tour and sanctioned Rs. 500 crore for immediate relief from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
Bollywood and Koliwood (Tamil Tinsel Town) have already started sending money and material for Kerala either through state govt agency or NGOs. Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee in a twitter informed all concerned that West Bengal will contribute Rs.10 crore to alleviate the sufferings of the Keralite brothers and sisters. Malayabers residing in different Indian states and abroad are organising relief operations and collecting both money and material for their unfortunate brethren in their homeland.
It is not the time to start a blame game as efforts are being made from some quarters. This is not the time to decide about the friends and enemies of Kerala. From some quarters desperate efforts are being made to politicise the issue. No language has enough words to condemn those who are indulging in such dirty tricks. Politics can’t be and should not be done over such devastation. Rather it is the time for everyone to come forward to stand beside their fellow citizens of Kerala. What is presently being seen is the immediate impact of this record breaking disaster that both the governments Centre and the State should be prepared to tackle the aftermath of this calamity which may visit the State in the form of an epidemic of different kind on health front. The issue of rebuilding the economy almost from scratch in different pockets of the state will have to be tackled. And above all “God’s own Country, as Kerala Tourism highlighted this slogan all these years and attracted millions of foreign tourists when Kashmir became a “No Go” area, and formed the main backbone of the economy of the state, will have to be re-invented and made known all over the world that Kerala remains the same as it was prior to the calamity struck it. And that would need billions of dollars beside immense patience and fortitude to re-build the economy from scratch.
