Odisha urges Kerala govt to help Odia people trapped in flood

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Sunday requested the Kerala government to provide relief to 187 Odia labourers stranded in the flood-hit districts.

The Odisha Disaster Management Department has written a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Relief Commissioner of Kerala, requesting him to provide immediate relief to these labourers.

A list of the stranded labourers with their mobile phone numbers has been sent to the Kerala government to help them establish contact with those from Odisha.

The Odisha government received calls for help at the state emergency operation centre at the Special Relief Commissioner office here.

The state government requested to kindly make necessary arrangement for providing necessary support in terms of food, drinking water and other necessities to these people.

Several Odias from Khandapada, Sarankul and Ranpur blocks of Nayagarh district are stranded in the flood-hit areas of Malappuram, Munnar, Thrissur and Ernakulam districts, said an official.

Notably, the Odisha government has set up a 24-hour helpline 1070 and 0674-2534177 at the SRC office to coordinate help for the people in difficulty in Kerala.

It has also sent a team of 240 fire services personnel along with 75 power boats to carry out rescue operations.