Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

30 houses damaged in floods

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 5. As many as 30 houses in the Pachalloor-Panathura area near Thiruvallam were damaged and a large tract of land inundated by floodwaters backing up from the sandbar at Pozhikara following the heavy rains on Monday night.

Stranded by the flood, local people are incensed over the delay in opening up the sandbar. They said desperate pleas had failed to elicit a timely response from the Revenue authorities.

As the showers intensified into a torrential downpour by 8 p.m., the area to the north of the National Highway bypass at Thiruvallam started filling up with water backing up from the sandbar. With the water creeping up to five feet from the ground level, alarmed residents informed the District Collector and the Revenue Divisional Officer. "We were told that the contractor had been directed to open the sandbar but there was no response till 4 a.m.," said Thampy, a local resident.

By early morning, a group of youngsters braved the swirling waters and rowed up to the river mouth to break open the sandbar with shovels and spades. The floodwaters receded in two hours but by that time, 30 houses were destroyed or heavily damaged. As many as 14 houses on the Edayar island bore the brunt of the stormwaters. Houses in Pachalloor, Panathur, Kollamthara, Karibhagam, Vengara, Thottumukku and Thoppady were also damaged.

By morning, residents were picking up their belongings from the collapsed houses. The Punchakari ward councillor, A.J. Sukarno, said many areas were still waterlogged. He said the failure to open up the sandbar had proved costly for the people.

"It is sheer negligence on the part of the contractor who is paid for this work. Most of the houses belonged to poor families and were built with laterite stones which quickly absorb water," he said.

Mr. Sukarno said there had been no effort on the part of the authorities to rehabilitate the stranded people who were forced to leave their dwellings or compensate them for the loss.

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