Floods in southern India disrupt life, transport

Kochi: Severe floods due to heavy rainfall in the past one week has brought several parts of south and central India to a complete halt. Floods have affected several parts of the Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, cutting off roads, halting train services and even resulting in the closure of the Kochi airport in Kerala, till Sunday.

Airport operations out of the coastal city of Mangalore have been affected as well with as many as six flights to GCC countries being delayed on Friday morning.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as well as the armed forces have been deployed in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations across a wide swathe of these states. In Karnataka, roads connecting the state to Goa, Mumbai as well as other southern states have been cut due to landslides. Kerala has also witnessed several landslides while many districts of Maharashtra have parts covered with flood waters.

The Congress member of Parliament for Wayanad, Kerala, took to Twitter to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for help, terming the situation grim. Similar appeals for more assistance from the Central Government have been made by leaders of other states as well.