Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

More camps opened

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, DEC. 30. The Government warning of a fresh tsunami onslaught today triggered a wave of panic across the coastal areas of the district. Thousands of residents, mostly women, children and the elderly, fled their homes to safer places, forcing the district administration to open 57 relief camps.

The army swung into action to provide relief operations to the displaced people.

However, no tidal surge was reported from anywhere in the district.

Schools, churches and shopping centres were turned into relief camps to house panic-stricken families. People scrambled to board KSRTC buses and police and army vehicles which were pressed into service to transport them to the camps.

The District Collector, Tinku Biswal, said one lakh people were shifted to the relief camps in the Thiruvananthapuram, Chirayinkeezh and Neyyattinkara taluks. All Revenue officials in the Nedumangad taluk and the Collectorate have been deployed for relief work. The authorities have taken steps to provide free ration and medical aid at the camps.

Drinking water supply

The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) pressed into service 20 tankers to supply drinking water to the relief camps in the city. When the tankers belonging to the City Corporation and the Authority proved insufficient to meet the demands of the camps, private lorries too were requisitioned to act as tankers. According to officials of the KWA, some private lorries had to be seized with the help of the police when their owners refused to voluntarily despatch them.

Four cases of dysentery were reported from the BNV High School at Thiruvallam where over 3,000 people have been housed. Medical teams are monitoring the situation. Later in the day, more relief camps were opened to shift the occupants from the congested centres.

Despite the best efforts of the Revenue officials, the City Corporation and the medical teams, the threat of an epidemic outbreak looms large in the overcrowded camps where toilet facilities are grossly inadequate.

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