Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Rain inundates many parts of city

Staff Reporter

1,167 people housed in 14 relief camps; 24 houses destroyed

NO WATERWAY, THIS: The flooded East Fort area in the city on Monday. Photo:S. Mahinsha

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Surging floodwaters caused by intermittent heavy rain that began on Sunday night inundated many parts of the city on Monday morning.

As many as 1,667 persons were evacuated to safety by the district administration. By evening 14 relief camps were opened across the city. Sixty-one families were housed at a lathe workshop at Jagathy and 50 families were put up at the Government High School Kalady. While 24 houses in the city were destroyed in heavy rain and the ensuing floods, 249 were reported partially damaged.

Most of the flooding was caused when the city's canals and the rivers Killi and Karamana overflowed. By about 10.30 a.m. floodwaters had entered many areas, including Kannammoola, Mulavana, Gowreesapattom, Vallakkadavu, Bangladesh Colony, Manikkavilakam, Idappazhanji, Konchiravila, Kuriathi and East Fort.

At the Puthenpalam colony, Kannammoola — a place that is ringed by the Amayizhanchan canal, the Pattom canal and the Kannammoola canal — the police and Fire and Rescue Services personnel to evacuated more than 30 families whose houses stood in deep water. As the floodwaters kept rising and came close to live electric switchboards the rescue personnel requested that the power supply to the area be cut, which went unheeded for more than half an hour. The local corporation councillor R. Satheesh Kumar told The Hindu that had the Minor Irrigation Department been more active in constructing side walls for the canals that ring Puthenpalam there would not have been any flooding there on Monday.

Personnel of the KWA were called in when debris lodged against a water pipeline across the Amayinzhanchan canal at Puthenpalam that got submerged threatened to burst open the line.

Scores of families living in the Karimadom colony had to scramble to safety early on Monday when the heavy rain caused the nearby Karimadom pond to overflow. From the Karimadom colony the floodwaters overflowed on to the road connecting Manacaud and Killippalam. The Bangladesh colony near Vallakkadavu was flooded as a portion of the airport's wall was blocking a natural storm drain in the area. District Collector N. Ayyappan, who rushed to the spot briefed the airport authorities about the situation. Soon after an earth mover was pressed into service to clear the storm drain. At Manikkvilakom near Poonthura angry residents blocked the main road for about an hour after floodwaters inundated the area in the morning. The District Collector later held negotiations with the residents and promised that action would be taken to set right the drainage problems in the area.

In Jagathy, floodwaters entered houses when the river Killi overflowed its banks. At Konchiravila and Kuriathi too landfills were identified by the district administration as the primary cause of flooding. The residents of Thekkinmoodu bund colony marched to the Cliff house on Monday night in protest against what they alleged was the negligence on the part of the authorities in tackling the flood problem in the area.

The City Corporation also swung into action to provide relief in the flooded areas of the city. An emergency meeting convened by Mayor C.Jayan Babu constituted a special squad comprising officials from the Health and Engineering sections to oversee relief works.

The squad used pumps and earthmoving equipment to drain out stormwaters from the waterlogged areas in Kuriyathi, Kanhirampara colony, Valiathura, Beemapally, Kalady, Kannamoola, Karamana, Jagathy and Sreevaraham.

The Met Centre here has forecast widespread rainfall in Kerala over the next 48 hours. Centre director K.Santhosh said the South West monsoon was vigorous over Kerala.

Thiruvananthapuram city recorded a rainfall of 8 cm in the 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Monday. .

Three shutters of the Neyyar dam were opened this morning to control the rising water level of the dam.

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