At a time when the state of Kerala is struggling to find financial resources to rebuild the state following the devastating floods in August, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has submitted a bill to the state government for the rescue and relief services provided by them during the disaster. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a statement on Thursday had announced that the state government will have to pay an amount of Rs 290.74 crore to the Centre for their services of providing the food grains as well as for the services of the Air Force during the floods.
Although the CM in his statement did not mention the exact amount to be paid to the IAF, the CM’s office later confirmed that an amount of Rs 25 crore has to be paid to the Air Force. In his statement, Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the total amount of money that has been collected by the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) for the flood relief activities as of November 27 amounted to Rs 2,683.18 crore. He said that this also includes the amount collected through the salary challenge.
“The amount of money spent so far from the CMDRF is Rs 688.48 crore. Apart from this, we are expecting a cost of Rs 1,357 crore to repair the damages caused to various houses,” said Pinarayi Vijayan in his statement.
“According to the various agencies under the World Bank and the United Nations, an estimated amount of Rs 31,000 crore will have to be spent to rebuild the state,” the CM said
.The State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) that was formed as per the National Disaster Relief Act has collected a total amount of Rs 987.73 crores. “Out of this Rs 586.04 crores have been used so far. Only if we get Rs 706.74 crore more, can we finish paying off all the debts,” said Pinarayi Vijayan.