THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A joint team of World Bank and Asian Development Bank that conducted a damage assessment has pegged the flood damages at Rs 25,046 crore as the preliminary assessment. The decision on the financial assistance by the bank will be finalized after discussions with the Union finance ministry and the state government.The team had split up the damages and the recovery needs to 11 sectors, including housing, public buildings, urban infrastructure, rural infrastructure, irrigation and water resources, power, transport, health, livelihoods, natural environment and biodiversity and cultural heritage.The sector that needs the highest financial assistance is the transport sector, which requires Rs 7,647 crore for rebuilding the state roads and Rs 910 crore for the national highways. The restoration of livelihoods, rural and urban infrastructure, housing and irrigation and water resources are the other key sectors that would require major financial assistance.In the livelihood sector that has been sub-divided to agriculture, livestock, fisheries, industries, handloom and coir and tourism sectors, the highest impact was on agriculture, for which the team estimated Rs 2,093 crore for recovery from damages. Regarding the damages to houses, the team has recommended that a post-disaster housing reconstruction policy should be adopted by the state government. Also, the state should come up with innovative financing techniques like land-pooling and future reconstruction of houses should have bio-fences in rural areas and permeable fences in urban areas.Among long-term measures, the World Bank team has recommended setting up authorities to protect ecologically fragile regions. The team has also recommended revising panchayat building rules and develop panchayatlevel land use plans. Regarding public buildings, safety audits should be conducted and replacement programmes must be introduced for old buildings.On tourism, the bank team has recommended branding of ‘Resilient Kerala’ as a strategy to restore confidence of travellers and to contribute to state’s recovery. On water supply front, measures like ensuring source sustainability (perennial rivers/reservoirs and interlinking of strategically important schemes) and expansion of pipe water coverage are among the future steps recommended.The bank also recommended upgrading and modernisation of irrigation canals. The bank team, along with repair of the damaged roads, has also recommended conducting road network level vulnerability assessment with specific focus on geo-hazard and flooding risks and development of climate proofing framework.The World Bank team has made a string of recommendations for the agriculture sector, including combining land restoration measures with package of nutrients and soil ameliorants to restore soil fertility.

Stay updated with all the Latest Thiruvananthapuram headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.