Displaying items by tag: Kerala

Hopes of finding over 180 missing people alive in India's Kerala state are dwindling as rescue workers search through mud and debris after landslides, triggered by torrential rains, killed at least 194 people. This disaster is the worst since 2018. More than 5,500 people have been rescued from hillside villages, but rescue operations are hampered by ongoing rains. Nearly forty bodies were found 30 km downstream from the landslide site in Wayanad district. Most victims were tea estate workers. About 1,100 rescue personnel, helicopters, and heavy equipment are involved in the efforts. Current reports indicate up to 276 deaths from the heavy rains and flooding. Over 8,300 people are in 82 relief camps. Kerala, prone to heavy rains and landslides, received 572 mm of rain over 48 hours, far exceeding forecasts. India has witnessed extreme weather in recent years, from torrential rain and floods to droughts and cyclones, blamed by some experts on climate change.

The ongoing attacks on Manipur’s Christians are labelled 'religious cleansing'. Over 317 churches, 70 church schools, 6,137 Christian homes and Christian administrative buildings had been destroyed by 3 May, according to an assessment by the Federation of Indian American Christian Organisations (FIACONA). Other groups estimated 45,000 people have been displaced in what FIACONA is calling ‘the worst anti-Christian violence India has ever seen’. The BJP government used a decades-old underlying ethnic tension between two ethnic groups to create the deadliest violence against Christians, instigated by Hindutva nationalists. It is ‘target killings by government forces’. Events in Manipur follow worsening conditions for Christians across India. Kerala’s Catholic bishops’ council conducted prayers and a candle-lit procession on 6 June, demanding peace should be established in Manipur immediately. Bishops, priests, and laity participated in the meeting and procession.

Huge monsoon floods have left hundreds dead and millions displaced in the southern state of Kerala. In the turmoil following a disaster of this magnitude, millions of people have lost everything and are now vulnerable to human trafficking unless they can be protected. Soon after the massive floods began, International Justice Mission started working with the Kerala chief minister’s office and senior law enforcement officials on a robust, six-month anti-trafficking project to help local officials protect the most vulnerable. They initiated a top-down human trafficking intervention called Surakshita Keralam (Safe Kerala), and have now trained over 650 local government officials on how to spot signs of human trafficking and assist families in need. The next phase will be to monitor local officials’ efforts to do assessments of flood-affected communities, find those at risk, and develop plans for their long-term protection. Pray for God to bring success to all aspects of these rehabilitation initiatives.

Monsoon flood waters have receded in Kerala after the worst monsoon rains in a century, allowing authorities to retrieve the bodies of victims and enabling residents to start assessing the damage to their homes. But it is feared that thousands of people are still trapped in the worst-hit areas. Pray for regular supplies of clean drinking water and electricity to be distributed quickly and fairly to the state’s 33 million residents. Pray for the thousands of army, navy and air force personnel still searching for survivors and delivering food, medicine and water to those stranded in remote, hilly areas cut off by damaged roads and bridges. Pray for the 1,028,000 people sheltering in 3,274 relief camps. Disinfectants in adequate quantities are needed to prevent water-borne diseases. Pray for more paramedics to be available to advise and give medical aid. The government said it needs hundreds of thousands of electricians, plumbers and carpenters to bring Kerala back to normality. See

With a rising death toll (15) and the deaths of a nurse and a soldier in Kolkata, panic about Nipah virus is spreading in Kerala. Half-informed WhatsApp messages about Nipah are making it hard for people to distinguish fact from fiction, but what is known is that it is fatal in 70% of cases and there is no vaccine. On 29 May health experts flew to Kerala to help contain the virus that the WHO lists alongside Ebola and Zika as a disease that could cause a global epidemic. Emergency measures have been imposed to curb its spread; dozens of patients have been quarantined since the outbreak was detected two weeks ago. Nipah spreads from bats or pigs to humans, with many strains capable of spreading from person to person. This increases the chances of a strain emerging that spreads rapidly among the densely populated communities and beyond. See