Kerala floods: Adventure Tour operators join rescue operations
Kochi, Aug 19: A 90-member team of the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India on Sunday began rescue operations in the flood-ravaged Kerala using 17 wide-body rafts brought in from Rishikesh, its team leader said.
Speaking to IANS, Sam T.Samuel, who runs the Kalypso Adventures here, said that it was with the help of the Indian Air Force that they were able to get these rafts from Rishikesh making it possible to begin the rescue operations in Paravur, Ernakulam district.
"Each raft can carry eight people. These rafts are paddle ones and hence no fuel is required. Our group of volunteers are expert rafters," said Samuel, a retired naval pilot.
Paravur remains one of the worst affected in the rains that started on August 9, causing destruction across Kerala, rendering lakhs of people homeless and claiming 370 lives so far.
While many from this area are in relief camps, thousands still await rescue. On Saturday, six people died after a wall of a Church collapsed.
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Congress names candidates for 8 Haryana LS seats, fields Kumari Selja, Deepender Hooda
Chandigarh (PTI): The Congress on Thursday announced candidates for eight of the nine Lok Sabha seats it is contesting in Haryana, fielding former Union minister Kumari Selja, Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda and youth leader Divyanshu Budhiraja, besides two sitting MLAs.
The party has also fielded former MP Jai Prakash and leaders Satpal Brahmachari and Mahendra Pratap, according to the list released late Thursday evening.
The Congress is contesting nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. It has not yet announced its candidate for the Gurugram constituency.
The Aam Aadmi Party, a constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc, will contest the Kurukshetra seat.
Congress general secretary and former Union minister Selja will contest from the Sirsa (reserved) seat and sitting MLAs Varun Choudhary and Rao Dan Singh from the Ambala (reserved) and the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seats, respectively.
Deepender Hooda, son of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, will enter the fray from Rohtak. He has represented the Rohtak parliamentary constituency three times in the past.
Jai Prakash has been fielded from Hisar, the Congress' Haryana youth wing president Divanshu Budhiraja from Karnal, Satpal Brahmachari from Sonipat and Mahendra Pratap from Faridabad.
