Thiruvananthapuram:
A State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) unit will be set up in Kerala in the background of large-scale damage and casualties in flash floods and landslips in Kannur and Kozhikode district last week.
The unit, comprising 100 personnel, would be formed by enlisting capable persons from the police force, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
Fresh recruitments would be made to fill vacancies in the police force due to deployment of personnel in SDRR, he said.
Kerala also would request the Centre to re-install one unit of the National Disaster Response Force, which was stationed in Kozhikode, but later moved from the state, he said.
Cabinet approved the solatium granted to those affected by floods and land slips in Kannur and Kozhikode, he said.
Mr Chandy said delay in lifting the shutters of Pazhi Dam in Kannur had caused certain problems and to some extent increased the damage.
In view of that, the cabinet decided to sanction Rs seven crore to renovate the shutters of Pazhi Dam. New shutters would be commissioned within a year, he said.
For construction of roads leading to the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala, the cabinet accorded special administrative sanction for road works costing 67.75 crore.