India / Center will provide all possible help: Amit Shah on Kerala floods

New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday assured all possible support for the people in need in Kerala, where heavy rain on Saturday, in the state's south and central regions, resulted in at least 18 people losing their lives, with the toll likely to go up. Taking to Twitter, Shah said that the Centre was keeping a close watch on the situation.

“We are continuously monitoring the situation in parts of Kerala in the wake of heavy rainfall and flooding. The central government will provide all possible support to help the people in need. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have already been sent to assist in the rescue operations. Praying for everyone's safety,” the home minister tweeted.

Meanwhile, as the rainfall subsided marginally in central Kerala on Sunday morning, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a bulletin that during the next 24 hours, there was a possibility of “light to moderate” rainfall at many places in the state. The weather department further projected that “heavy” rainfall will occur only over isolated places in Kerala during this period.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan described in a Facebook post as “hectic,” the ongoing relief and rescue operations, while his cabinet colleague, revenue minister K Rajan, said that the situation was “under control.” Also, besides the NDRF, the three wings of the armed forces--Army, Navy and Air Force--have been pressed into service.