Central team to visit Kerala for assessing rain damage
Thiruvananthapuram, July 19: Even as the death toll in Kerala due to rains climbed to 17 with the recovery of one more body, the Centre on Thursday assured that a central team will soon visit the state to assess the damage caused in at least eight districts.
The assurance was held out when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and an all-party delegation called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi in the morning and urged for immediate help in the matter.
The Prime Minister's Office issued directions that a central team led by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiran Rijiju be deputed to Kerala to assess the situation.
The body was recovered in Palakkad district on Thursday, taking the death toll due to heavy rains in the past 11 days to 17. Two persons in Ernakulam district are reported missing.
More than 10,000 persons have been put up in relief camps in four central districts.
A dairy owner in Muttukadu in Ernakulam district complained that no official help was forthcoming to rescue his 23 cows marooned in a waterlogged area.
"Of these, 15 cows are expecting and thus it is risky to transport them. I could manage to take out only two cows. I am very upset because no one from the Animal Husbandry Department turned up to provide some medical relief to the animals. If rains stop for a day, I could move these cows to a safe area," Shyam said.
Though rain intensity subsided on Thursday after one week, Alappuzha and Kottayam continued to reel under heavy rains, with normal life thrown out of gear.
The worst affected is Kuttanad, which covers both Alappuzha and Kottayam districts, with vast tracts of paddy fully under water. Area residents said it will take a week for normalcy to return.
The Alappuzha District Collector announced a holiday in all educational institutions on Friday.
The Alappuzha authorities have made arrangements to send medical teams to affected areas as outbreak of water-borne diseases looms large in several waterlogged areas as rain intensity wanes.
Several parts of Kottayam received good rains on Thursday, causing inconvenience to residents living in low-lying areas of the district.
The Meteorological office predicted more rains in the central districts of Kerala in the next 18 hours.
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Stray dogs case: We will play video, ask you what is humanity, SC tells petitioner
New Delhi (PTI): Responding to a petitioner in the stray dogs case who objected to some rules framed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) saying "inhuman" treatment was being meted out to them, the Supreme Court on Thursday said a video will be played in the next hearing, "asking you what is humanity".
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who is appearing in the stray dogs case, told a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta that a three-judge special bench which was scheduled to assemble on Thursday to hear the matter was cancelled.
"It will come on January 7," Justice Nath said.
Sibal said, "The problem is that the MCD, in the meantime, has framed some rules which are completely contrary.color:red;"
He urged the bench to hear the matter on Friday, saying authorities don't even have dog shelters. "It is very very inhuman what is being done," Sibal said.
Justice Mehta, in an apparent reference to the stray dog menace, said "On the next date, we will play a video for your benefit and we will ask you what is humanity," .
Sibal responded that they will also play a video to show what was happening.
"The problem is your lordships has passed an order and we respect that. But the point is, there are statutory rules," he said.
When the bench said it would consider the matter on January 7, Sibal said the authorities will implement the rules in December itself.
"They will be implementing it and they will be removing the dogs. They don't have shelters," he said.
Justice Nath said, "It is alright Mr Sibal. Let them do it, we will consider."
The bench said it would hear the matter on January 7.
On November 7, taking note of the "alarming rise" in dog bite incidents within institutional areas like educational institutions, hospitals and railway stations, the apex court directed the forthwith relocation of stray canines to designated shelters after due sterilisation and vaccination.
A three-judge special bench had also said the stray dogs so picked up shall not be released back in the place they were picked up from.
The bench had directed the authorities to ensure the removal of all cattle and other stray animals from state highways, national highways and expressways.
It had said recurrence of dog bite incidents within institutional areas, including sports complexes, reflected not only administrative apathy but also a "systemic failure" to secure these premises from preventable hazards.
The top court had passed a slew of directions in the suo motu case over the stray dog menace.
It is hearing a suo motu case, initiated on July 28 over a media report on stray dog bites leading to rabies, particularly among children, in the national capital.
