After about 10 days of extremely heavy rainfall causing floods in the entire state, killing more than 200 people and displacing lakhs, Kerala is now on its recovery path.

Share Market Live

NSE

Help is pouring in from across the world with the centre, state governments, corporates, NGOs and individuals among others assisting Kerala with its financial needs with the losses due to disaster pegged at around Rs 20,000 crore.

Besides the financial assistance, several sectors are providing various services to people enabling them to fulfill basic requirements.

Banking

Banks in Kerala have decided to reschedule loans and to not levy service charges and fees for issuing new cheque books to customers affected by the floods.

The state Level Bankers Committee has also decided to announce a moratorium on education loan for a period of six months and all other loans for one year besides rescheduling the loan repayments for five years.

Small accounts could be opened with a photograph and thumb impression for the ones who lost their personal documents.

Aviation

Airlines including Air India, Vistara and IndiGo have also come forward, setting up operations in providing assistance.

Vistara is providing free tickets to those heading to help the Kerala flood victims. "Doctors, nurses, skilled volunteers and disaster relief experts will be given free tickets for this route," the airline said in a tweet.

Air India is also pressing bigger aircraft to help deliver relief material. While other airlines are running additional flights to assist with the relief work as well as to clear the passenger backlog.

Insurance

The Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDA) has asked life insurers to take immediate steps for the expeditious settlement of claims. The IRDA has said the insurance companies should follow a procedure similar to the one used to settle claims after the Chennai floods in 2015.

LIC has decided to waive off interest on delay in payment of premium. The insurer has set up a special cell to handle claims.

The companies are expected to take these losses under householders’ policies and life and motor claims, according to a report.

Telecom

Telecom operators have announced free call and data services, extension in bill payment dates and other relief measures.

While Reliance Jio and state-run BSNL have offered free calls to all customers, established operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular are offering calling against limited credit for pre-paid customers for seven days and extended bill payment dates for post-paid customers.

Passport service

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced that passports damaged in floods in Kerala will be replaced free of cost by the government.

(With inputs from agencies)

First Published:Aug 23, 2018 12:59 PM IST