Rebuild Kerala app collects info on 2.4 lakh houses affected by the floods

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The survey of 2.47 lakh households affected by the floods and natural calamities could be completed within 15 days using the mobile app launched by the government.

The government will also launch an app to collect the data regarding the damage suffered by shops and commercial establishments, the parameters of which were being finalised by the departments concerned.

Nearly four lakh houses suffered partial or total damage in the calamities. The survey of all these houses is likely to be over in a week. The data collected are being by volunteers from households using the app, ‘Rebuild Kerala.’ Of the data of 2,46,908 households collected till September 21, that of 1,61,951 households were already verified by the overseers or engineers of the local bodies concerned. Of this, the data of 80,112 households were approved by the secretaries concerned, while 27,375 were rejected. Most of the rejected cases were that of households where only the compound walls suffered damage and not the buildings.

The maximum number of households surveyed are in Ernakulam, 98,498, followed by Alappuzha, 35,512, Thrissur, 25,922, Pathanamthitta, 16,042, and Kottayam, 16,024.

The data being collected in digital format include the extent of damage suffered, photographs and basic details of the members. The geographical location of each household is also being collected, which makes it easier for identifying the houses at a later stage. It also helps to create a map of the affected areas, which would be of use for disaster management activities in future, government sources said.

The Kerala State IT Mission and Information Kerala Mission (IKM) are managing the application. A few sets of parameters like the flood water levels and extent of damage have been set in the app, making data collection easier and foolproof.

Additional chief secretary (local self- government) T.K. Jose said that the data being collected would give a clear picture of the extent of damage suffered by households. The government would soon finalise the modalities for compensation.

The parameters for the survey of shops and commercial taxes were being prepared by the IT Mission and IKM in discussion with industries and taxes departments. With the implementation of the GST, the details of stocks in shops could be ascertained by the authorities easily and hence the chances for making inflated claims could be plugged, said sources.