Kerala Floods: Railways dispatches 16 lakh litres of potable water

The Indian Railways, including the Western and Central Railway, has dispatched 16 lakh litres of potable water to Palghat in Kerala via Pune. Around 29 wagons are carrying 16 lakh litres of potable water.

The Central Railways (CR) in a statement said that it has sent around 14 wagons, carrying seven lakh litre of potable water, and the Western Railways (WR) said that it has dispatched 9 lakh litres of potable water in 15 special tanks.

The WR in a statement said, "All 15 tanks of water special train at Ratlam station was sent to Palghat as relief for flood-stricken Kerala. The quality of water of each tank was tested before dispatch."

The WR further said, "Kerala has been witnessing extreme flood situation since the last few days, owing to incessant rains where more than 300 people have lost their lives. Southern Railway has also dispatched 7 wagons carrying water. Total of 2,740 cartons of bottled water from Parassala Rail Neer plant has also been sent, with loading of another 10,000 cubic boxes of water bottles under progress to be sent to the state."

Earlier, Indian Railways had sent potable water to drought-hit Latur in 2016.

Meanwhile, the Indian Navy and Air Force continued with its rescue operations on Saturday with the help of boats and helicopters.

Pilots for rescue

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said it plans to fly planes to support operation 'Madad and Operation 'Sahyog' in Kerala, without any payment. The ICPA are those of Airbus 320 and Boeing 787 in Air India.