INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Flood-affected people wait to receive food inside a makeshift, temporary relief camp, in Kochi
killed more than 400 people, officials said as a huge international aid operation gathered pace.People are flocking to camps as the scale of
the desolation is revealed by receding waters and the forces rescue more people each day.The Kerala government said 1,028,000 people are now
in about 3,200 relief camps across the state
Officials said six more bodies were found on Monday, taking the death toll to more than 410 since the monsoon started in June.Kerala
authorities say they are desperate for funds and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday promised $100 million in aid, Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan announced after telephone talks with UAE leaders.The amount is more than the $97 million so far promised by the centre
Mr Vijayan demanded a $375 million package from the government, saying the state must confront more than $3 billion in devastation.Millions
of dollars in donations have poured into Kerala from the rest of India and abroad in recent days
Other state governments have promised more than $50 million while ministers and company chiefs have publicly vowed to give a month's
relief camp in Kochi to provide meals for 3,000 people a day.The rescue operation is now focused on the worst-hit areas such as Chengannur,
where more than 60 centimetres (two feet) of water blocked many roads as more rain fell today.Army teams said several thousand people in the
into a temporary relief camp in Kochi
(Reuters)Relief teams reached the house of retired army officer KG Pillai, who said up to 2.4 metres (eight feet) of water had engulfed the
house where his family had lived since 1952."In the past there has never been more than one foot of floods and people are not used to this,"
he said."Around 26 people moved into the first floor of our home" to take refuge, he said.In nearby Pandanad, locals said there was a
and that is all that matters," she told AFP
She was on duty in Punjab when her parents' house, where her daughter was staying, was inundated last week."I lost all contact with them for
around four days and literally had to make an appeal on Facebook for any update," she added.Her video became one of the most widely shared
distress appeals on social media."I can talk about it now but they were the most anxious hours
I was strong but broke when I heard my daughter was crying for milk and water at the time," she added.She took a train ride and a flight and
fanned out across the state to help those stranded in remote and hilly areas.Dozens of helicopters and even drones have been dropping food,
medicine and water to cut-off villages.Tens of thousands of people in Chengannur and surrounding towns and villages are relying on community
kitchens for meals, after water from hilly districts poured down into lowland regions.The government says that more than 10,000 kilometers
of roads have been destroyed or damaged while a legislator said 50,000 houses had been wiped out.Kerala lawmaker Shashi Tharoor estimated
that 50,000 houses had been destroyed
He said he would seek possible UN assistance in relief efforts during a trip to Geneva this week.(Kerala has to rebuild itself after the
worst floods in over a century
Hundreds have died and lakhs are homeless
