By Matters India Reporter
Trichur: The Christian Conference of Asia, an ecumenical body, has expressed solidarity with people of Kerala who have experienced colossal damage due to floods and heavy rains.
Hundreds have been killed and several thousand have been displaced and rendered homeless. The official death toll on August 20 was about 400. Many were missing.
CCA general secretary Mathews George Chunakara on August 20 urged all member churches, and ecumenical organizations around the world, to respond urgently to the disaster in Kerala.
The last time Kerala faced such a disaster was in 1924.
The main reason for the latest floods is the release of 700,000 liters of water per second from Kerala dams.
More than 1 million people were evacuated or rescued from their homes, and a large number of people left their homes voluntarily to take shelter elsewhere in homes of friends, relatives and well-wishers. Thousands of people have been rendered homeless; more than 740,000 people now live in 5,645 relief camps set up over the past five days.
The rescue operations and relief support are being coordinated by the state government agencies. Faith-based organizations and volunteers are actively involved in relief operations in local areas, especially to provide food, cloth and medical care in the relief camps.
Almost all churches and other faith-based organizations are directly involved in relief operations. Schools, colleges and hospitals owned by churches and other religious organizations have been converted to relief camps. The CCA member churches that are directly involved in relief operations in affected areas include the Church of South India Dioceses in Kerala, Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, and Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.
Rescue operations are being intensified amid frantic calls for help from hundreds of stranded citizens. Hundreds of fishermen from Kerala’s southern coastal districts reached the affected areas in the central and northern parts of the State with their own boats and undertook massive rescue operations, battling strong river currents and heavy rain to bring stranded citizens to safety. The Air Force, Navy and the Coast Guard are involved in rescue operations via helicopters and navy boats.
Thousands of people continue to be stranded in isolated houses in several areas. A respite in rainfall has aided the relief efforts but it will take a gargantuan effort to get all the stranded people to safe shelters. Transportation and communication systems in the State have been ruined as major roads are damaged, telephone networks are down and electricity is cut-off in many areas. The main airport in Kerala has also been closed; trains and buses offer only limited services.
The CCA general secretary, a native of Kerala, said, “The impact of the devastation will remain long term. There is an urgent need to rebuild and rehabilitate the lives of the people and communities and restore normalcy, for which timely intervention and assistance are needed of the hour.”