-The Telegraph New Delhi: Kerala did not have inundation maps or emergency action plans when waterworks engineers, responding to rising water levels, released the shutters of dams last week, but other states may be similarly vulnerable, a 2017 government audit report suggests. In the absence of detailed inundation maps or action plans, district authorities can warn local communities about an impending rise in water levels but without a clear idea of how...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday cited a 2004 UPA decision on foreign assistance to turn down offers of Kerala flood aid from various countries although the National Disaster Management Plan 2016 allows the Centre to accept such help. The move triggered allegations of "policy confusion" from the CPM that heads the state government. Breaking its silence on such offers after Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced on Tuesday...

-Hindustan Times The ecologist said extensive stone quarrying and mushrooming of high-rises as part of tourism, and illegal forest land acquisition by private parties are the major reasons for the recent floods in the state. Pune: Ecologist Madhav Gadgil, founder of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, has described the floods in Kerala as a man-made disaster; a reaction to the illegal excavations, stone quarrying done...

-News18.com The state’s residents, politicians and bureaucrats have come together to provide relief and help with rebuilding, but what is striking is the delayed response in the release of funds for rescue and relief operations in the state from the central government. As Kerala continues to battle floods, the Pinarayi Vijayan government has found itself caught between nature’s fury and the lack of resources to wade through the flooded waters in ‘God’s...

-Scroll.in A creek from the Periyar river was diverted when the airport – shut till August 26 – was built. As heavy rain continues to lash Kerala, the government announced on Thursday that the flooded Cochin International Airport would remain closed until August 26. The international airports in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode districts will accommodate the traffic from Kochi, which is Kerala’s largest airport. The state is in the grip of what has...