GOD’S OWN COPS SCRIPTING A YOUNG HISTORY ` 12/- 2018 SEPTEMBER 01 www.prd.kerala.gov.in RISE! LET’S RAISE 1 [email protected] SEPTEMBER 2018 KERALA CALLING Time to Catch Up With the Government Grab your morning Newspaper… Watch mid-day news on Television… Or Tune to evening news on the Radio… Do you think you have been updated? What about NOW? 2 Go Live with PRD Live! Developed by the Information Public Relations Department – PRD Live – is the only one mobile app of its kind that keeps you updated from dawn to dusk on News, Developments and Events involving the Government of Kerala. Visit Google Play Store and download the Android version (3.0) of PRD Live. KERALA CALLING SEPTEMBERMARCH 2018 2018 www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling EDITORIAL AUGUST WILL NOT BE THE CRUELLEST MONTH ANY LONGER nd, quiet flow the rivers again. The fury is over. There is no sign of rage in their looks. In fact, they are drying up fast. The sky is deep and blue. All were just like a terrible dream. Yes, the nightmare is over but unfortunately it has left indelible and devastating scars on our State. AThe flood and landslides that wreaked havoc across Kerala is one of the biggest disasters in the history of the State. We have vague memories of the Great Flood in 1924. Many lives were either washed away in the flood or buried in the landslides. Many were injured and the belongings of a lifetime were ruthlessly taken away by the furious waters. Houses have become uninhabitable and many were shifted to relief camps. Actually we were at sea at first! 3 Soon we awakened to reality. The whole machinery of the Government and the people joined hand in glove for the rescue measures. The Central government paid heed to our pleas and sent central forces. The State Police, Fire and Rescue, the Army, the Navy, The Air force, NDRF etc. sprang into action in a war footing measure. Our fisher folk, our own army, who ventured into places where no one dared to go, deserve special mention. Without their brave intervention, many valuable lives would have been lost. The relief measures are still going on in full swing. The menace of contagious diseases is there but the Health department has kept them in vigil. The Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund has crossed the mark of 1000 Cr. Help is still flowing in from many quarters both in and out of the country. “April is the cruellest month” wrote T.S Eliot considering the lost hopes of the European youth after World War 1. For us, if we are united in rebuilding our State, this August will not be” the cruellest” any longer. We are in the rebuilding phase. We cannot go back to the past. Future is not bleak but bright. We can build a new Kerala. Because, we withstood the deluge in spirit united! And, every drop counts. T.V.Subhash Editor in Chief [email protected] SEPTEMBER 2018 KERALA CALLING SEPTEMBER 2018 Volume 38 Number 11 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF T V Subhash IAS EDITOR K S Sailendran ASSISTANT EDITOR C Rajesh ASSISTANT INFORMATION OFFICER Anchitha A CIRCULATION Sunil Hassan DESIGN & LAYOUT AnilRaj [email protected] PRINTING Orange Printers Pvt Ltd.,Thiruvananthapuram Cover Photo: C. Suresh Kumar inSide 4 TOGETHER DEFENDING 06 WE BUILD A BETTER KERALA 18 LIVES Pinarayi Vijayan Chief Minister Dhanya Sanal K Spokesperson, Defence Ministry RING OUT THE OLD, 10 RING IN THE NEW THE FLOOD Dr.V.K.Ramachandran Vice Chairman, 24 FACTS AND FACTORS Kerala State Planning Board Dr.Manoj M.G Research Scientist, Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research, GOD’S Cochin University of Science and Technology 12 OWN COPS CAUSES OF THE WORST 30 RAINFALL FIRE AND Ajith Lawrence Associated Press Correspondent, Specialisation- Science,Environment,Disaster Migration 16 RESCUE and Sociology Responses may be sent to mail: EDITORIAL MATERIALS [email protected] Articles/features appearing in this magazine are either commisioned or assigned. Neverthless, other articles are also welcome. A maximum of 750 wordage is appreciated. SuchKERALA items CALLING should SEPTEMBERbe addressed 2018 to www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling The Editor, Kerala Calling, First Floor, Secretariat Annexe, Thiruvananthapuram Pin 695001 expressed in the articles published in Kerala Calling are not, necessarily, those of the government. Kerala Calling welcomes free VIEWS expression of divergent views and exchange of ideas through its pages. 5 SCRIPTING Nick Ut 36 A YOUNG HISTORY 46 Stands by Kerala Yamini Nair Senior Assistant Editor, Hindustan Times CLIMATE CHANGE THE SALT OF CAUSED THE HUMAN KINDNESS FLOODS : 40 Ignatius Pereira 47 Antonio Guterres FLOOD 1924 HISTORIC 44 Muralee Thummarukudy ACHIEVEMENTS Operations Manager, Post-conflict and Disaster 49 Sanil P Thomas Management Branch Accredited reporter for Jakarta United Nations Environment Programme Asian Games ENQUIRIES TO SUBSCRIBE The subscription amount will also be received at the State Information Centre, Press Club Building, Editorial : 0471 251 8648 Send Rs. 120 as money order to Thiruvananthapuram. Phone: 0471 251 8471 and Subscription : 0471 251 7036 The Director, Information & Public Relations Department at all District Information Offices First floor, Secretariat Annexe, Thiruvananthapuram 695001 Total number of pages: 48 + Cover [email protected] SEPTEMBER 2018 KERALA CALLING TOGETHER WE BUILD A BETTER KERALA Pinarayi Vijayan Chief Minister The major task of Rebuilding Kerala will be to ensure financial support and raw materials. What kind of rebuilding that we aim at too should be discussed. 6 TOGETHER WE BUILD A BETTER KERALA KERALA CALLING SEPTEMBER 2018 www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling fter rescue efforts, we are in the rehabilitation phase and what awaits us is the Rebuilding phase. The major task of Rebuilding Kerala will be to ensure financial Asupport and raw materials. What kind of rebuilding that we aim at too should be discussed. We have to take into account environmental issues also while carrying out rebuilding. Ensuring livelihood for the flood-hit in order to bring back normalcy in their lives is also a challenge. Rehabilitation in the disaster-prone areas is a major concern and a decision would be arrived at on these issues after detailed discussion. The deluge resulted in the damage of the State’s infrastructure. This was actually a bolt from the blue when the Government is on the path of fast development. We had been in a fix in the beginning but we were back on heels soon. We have a twin strategy-while the State must completely recover from the damage, we must adopt policies at the same time that will take it ahead in terms of development. Much help is flowing in from within and outside the country. This has boosted our confidence and energy to move forward. The deluge has its impact on many sectors including education, health, business and tourism. The greatest concern is that of the environmental damage. So, ecological issued should be addressed while rebuilding Kerala. The slogan we have put forward is not just ‘rehabilitation and reconstruction’, but ‘build a new Kerala’. We will build a better Kerala. There is a feeling among the public that each and everyone should shoulder the responsibility of Rebuilding Kerala. People across the world have contributed to alleviate the misery of the flood-ravaged. The overwhelming support from people in the process of Rebuilding Kerala has instilled confidence in us. There was huge support for 7 the suggestion to contribute one month salary to the mission of Rebuilding Kerala. Malayalis across the world as well as most of the service organisations came in support of this initiative. The Government is also initiating steps to facilitate acceptance of assistance from various parts of the world. The World Bank that visited Kerala and had discussions with Chief Secretary. We are also planning to bank on the Loka Kerala Sabha, which has been formed to ensure participation of non-resident Keralites in developmental activities, to bring in more assistance from across the world. Fund will be raised from various sources. The Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund has already crossed Rs1,000 Crore. There’s an understanding among the Keralites that they all should contribute to help the State recover from this disaster. The response we received for the suggestion that salaried people could give a month’s salary in installments was encouraging. The opposition parties welcomed the suggestion. Many individuals and organizations have already started making contributions. The Central Government should also play a major role in helping the State. In addition to these, there are several international agencies that can come with assistance in such circumstances. With the help of all these people, Government and agencies, we hope we can raise funds to rebuild Kerala better. The steps to make flood-hit houses habitable are on. Restoration of transportation, electricity and water connectivity in the flood-hit areas too is progressing. Flood hit areas face a menace of contagious diseases and health department is taking all necessary precautions to prevent it. The Government has taken steps to issue lost text [email protected] SEPTEMBER 2018 KERALA CALLING TOGETHER WE BUILD A BETTER KERALA books and documents too to the students in flood-hit areas. SETBACK TO ECONOMY The unprecedented flood also threw Kerala’s economy haywire. The damage to houses and infrastructure poses threat to the whole development process of the State. The flood has ruined our many hectares of agriculture land and damaged industrial and business sectors. The death of cattle too adversely affected many, resulting in the loss of livelihood. CENTER’S AID Aid from the Centre comes in phases, not in one disbursal.