The Malayali diaspora’s relief efforts during the Kerala floods Premium

Research explores diasporic engagement in Kerala's climate crisis, focusing on inclusive disaster relief efforts post-2018 floods.

Steve Taylor, Deborah Booth and Rohit Irudayarajan, ‘Diasporic engagement and the climate crisis in Kerala: inclusive disaster relief and reconstruction?’, South Asian Diaspora, Taylor and Francis, Vol 15, 2023.

The State of Kerala has long been recognised for its progressive development index. The much acclaimed ‘Kerala model’ has enabled affordable healthcare, accessible and quality education, led to the reduction of poverty and made significant strides in gender equality. On top of the State’s welfare policies, such development was considerably aided by the remittances sent to the State by its migrant population who had emigrated primarily to the Gulf countries for better opportunities. The Kerala NRI or the ‘pravasi’ has remained a perennial figure in Kerala’s imagination of itself.

However, the State is not without its challenges. Kerala has been highlighted as a hotspot which is vulnerable to climate change. Its varied geographical features make it prone to natural disasters like floods, cyclones and landslides. The July-August 2018 floods were witness to the fact. The onset of heavy rainfall led to the State getting devastatingly flooded. According to the India Meteorological Department, Kerala received 2346.6 mm of rainfall from June 1, 2018, to August 19, 2018, in contrast to an expected 1649.5 mm of rainfall. This rainfall was about 42% above the expected rate. Over 450 people lost their lives in the floods and about 1.4 million people were displaced. Reconstruction efforts following the devastation are still going on in many parts of the State.

The Malayali diaspora played a huge role at this juncture in mobilising aid and other essentials, along with the government machinery, to areas which were deeply affected. The Kerala Chief Minister had directly appealed to the NRI community to help the State in rebuilding itself. Remittances kept flowing from the migrant population for reconstruction efforts and were a huge part of why the State could build itself back to normalcy again. At the time of the 2018 floods, it was estimated that 36% of Kerala’s State Gross Domestic Product originated from international remittances. In this paper, Steve Taylor et al try to understand the extent of the Malayali diaspora’s engagement during and after the floods and whether these efforts were inclusive of all people across caste, class and religion.

The research for this paper was done between 2018 and 2023 in order to effectively understand how efforts from the diaspora population helped the State during and after the flood. A survey was conducted in 2019 to study the effects of the floods in general, which was followed by a project specific to this paper from 2022-23 which involved interviews with households as well as with key representatives of the Malayali diaspora. This latter project was to get an understanding of the role of the international Malayali community in relief and reconstruction efforts.

And true to anecdotal evidence, it was found that the remittance aid to Kerala during the floods played a huge role in immediate and subsequent relief efforts. Malayali diaspora communities and organisations across the world came together to channel money, medicines and other essential goods. A member of a Malayali diaspora organisation in Oman stated that goods which were sent to Kerala would be collected by on-ground communicants from the airport and then transported and distributed to areas which direly needed them. Many such organisations set up 24/7 call centres to receive and co-ordinate urgent calls for medicines and other supplies. The sheer scale and dedication, the authors of the paper note, of the Malayali diaspora during the 2018 floods had to be commended.

These sentiments were echoed by the recipients as well. People were grateful that the ‘global Malayali community’ stepped up during the difficult time.