The Kerala government has decided to compensate those who have lost property in the floods that have so far claimed 104 lives.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said while briefing the media in Thiruvananthapuram: “Families that have lost 70 per cent to 100 per cent of their properties will get Rs 4 lakh (each) and families who lost their homes and land will be paid Rs 10 lakh (each) so that they find suitable accommodation.”

The government is assessing the extent of the damage to houses and infrastructure.

“At 9am today (Wednesday), 1,89,567 people from 58,107 families are accommodated in 1,118 relief camps,” Vijayan said.

According to the chief minister, the compensation would be released at the earliest after a thorough examination by the government.

“This flood hit us when we were yet to complete the task at hand to rebuild the state after last year’s disaster. Agricultural properties, roads and other infrastructure have also been damaged. Efforts are on to repair and rebuild them at the earliest,” Vijayan said.

Around 480 people had died in floods in Kerala last year, the worst deluge witnessed by the state in a decade.

Vijayan acknowledged the donations being received through the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund despite a vehement campaign against contributions to the corpus.

“We will use these funds for disaster relief, just like we did last year,” he iterated, contesting rumours that money from the fund had been used for his international travel the last time.

“The donations made to the CMDRF will be used only for disaster relief and nothing else. All this is properly accounted for,” he said. “There is complete transparency on the beneficiaries. That is why the people are ignoring the negative campaign against donating to the fund.”

Since the donations to the CMDRF are done through commercial banks, Vijayan said the government would approach them seeking waiver of commissions to ensure the maximum relief amount reached the affected people.

“The government will also make all necessary interventions to find environmental solutions, especially to landslides. We will find solutions if any environmental issues are intensifying calamities,” he said, apparently responding to widespread allegations that the government had turned a blind eye on environmental degradation.

Most of the spots where landslides have taken place had earlier witnessed heavy quarrying or tree felling for rubber plantations.

“We will take all help to meet the new challenge. A UN agency had given an assessment of Rs 31,000 crore as the cost of reconstruction after last year’s flood,” Vijayan said.

Malayalam actor Mohanlal on Wednesday decided to build a house for the family of a rescue worker, Linu, 34, who lost his life during an operation in Kozhikode. The superstar’s Viswasanthi Foundation will build the house for the family and also pay off Linu’s debts.

No red alert has been issued for Thursday. The weather department has predicted more rain and wind for at least two more days.

Search operations continued on Wednesday at the sites of landslides. Excavators worked at Kavalapaara in Malappuram and Puthumala in Wayanad district, the worst-affected areas.

While seven bodies were recovered on Wednesday at Kavalapaara, search was on for seven missing people in Puthumala.

After a week of heavy rain, the soil in landslide-affected zones has become like sludge, making it even more difficult to carry out rescue work.

The forecast was grim for neighbouring Karnataka where coastal districts could get very heavy rainfall on Thursday.

Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi have been placed under red alert. This could hamper relief work in these districts.

More than 50 people have died in the state where more than 3 lakh have been displaced because of floods and landslides.