Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Gale, rain disrupt normal life

Staff Reporter

182 houses damaged; damages estimated at Rs.7.87 lakhs

ROAD OR RIVER? The public road at Karinkulam, near Poovar, in Thiruvananthapuram district following heavy rain on Wednesday. Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

Thiruvananthapuram: Incessant rain and strong winds continued to spread havoc and disrupt normal life in the district for the third day on Wednesday. A 20-year-old youth, Moideen Adima, was injured when the wall of his house collapsed in the heavy downpour at Beemapally in the afternoon. He has been admitted to the Medical College Hospital casualty here.

According to officials at the Collectorate Control Room here, as many as 182 houses in the district were damaged in the heavy rain on Wednesday. The damage caused by the rain in the past 24 hours has been estimated at Rs.7.87 lakhs. In Neyyattinkara taluk while five houses were destroyed in heavy rain, 101 houses were damaged. In Chirayinkeezhu taluk one house was destroyed and 21 damaged so. In Nedumangad taluk, 38 houses were damaged while in Thiruvananthapuram taluk the figure was 15.

There were reports of sea erosion from densely populated coastal areas of Puthiyathura, Cheriyathura, Veli and Perumathura. Scores of houses of fishermen living along the coastline were damaged in the strong gale and rain. As many as 36 houses were partially damaged in Neyyatinkara taluk. District Collector N. Ayyappan reviewed the situation in the district.

Power was yet to be restored in several areas in the district. According to a Kerala State Electrcity Board (KSEB) release, 1,564 instances of breakage of power lines were reported in the district in the past three days of heavy rain. Another 984 instances of power disruption owing to fallen trees were also reported. The KSEB is still working on disrupted power lines in 100 different locations in the district.

A press note issued by IG (Vigilance and Security) KSEB Rishi Raj Singh said the vigilance wing has received many complaints about the alleged lapses of KSEB personnel in restoring power to all parts of the city.

In the heavy rain and winds that lashed the city from July 3 onwards many major power lines in the city were damaged. These include the line from the 220 kV substation at Pothencode to the 110 kV substation at Paruthippara, the main feeder from the Pothencode substation to the Aruvikkara substation and the `earth wire' of the feeder line from Paruthippara to the Vizhinjam sub station. All these were repaired within a few hours. Maintenance personnel are concentrating on repairing the main feeders that provide power to different parts of the city, followed by those areas that have fewer consumers.

In such a situation individual complaints may only be given a low priority, the press note said.

The public should cooperate with KSEB officials in this matter, the press note added.

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