Kochi, September 4: The Kerala Government has decided to cancel all official celebrations for one year in the wake of the deadly floods, that left nearly 483 dead, destroyed infrastructure and has rendered lakhs of people homeless.  According to a tweet by ANI, programs including International Film Festival of Kerala and other youth festivals stand cancelled.  Reports inform that the Pinarayi Vijayan government in the state has decided to divert the money meant for such events to the Kerala Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) instead.

More than 7.8 lakh people are in relief camps, 8000 houses have been washed away and around 26,000 are partly damaged. Reports by officials inform that rain-related incidents have claimed 483 lives since the onset of the south-west monsoon on May 28.

Reports inform that the annual School Arts Festival, which was scheduled to be held in Alappuzha in December this year, will be cancelled. Also, the University Arts fest and all the festivals of the tourism department this year will be cancelled as per the latest order.

After the flood water receded in most parts of rain-battered Kerala, the state is facing a challenge from different types of fever including leptospirosis,  which has claimed nine lives since August 29. Two persons died of leptospirosis (rat fever) Monday, one each at Palakkad and Kozhikode, according to theDirectorate of Health Services.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 04, 2018 04:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).