Kerala - Alappuzha   

1,700 people in relief camps in Alappuzha

Staff Reporter

Rain and tidal wave attacks batter the coast; 114 houses damaged

Motorists’ Woes: A view of the pothole-filled Shakthan Thampuran Road in Thrissur on Thursday.

ALAPPUZHA: Continuous rain and tidal wave attacks have been battering the Alappuzha coast, displacing over 1,700 people and damaging nearly 600 houses over the last two weeks. On Thursday, 10 houses were completely damaged and 114 partially along the coastline.

While Ambalapuzha and Karthikapally bore the brunt of attack, with eight relief camps opened in the two taluks, one camp each had to be opened at Mavelikara and Cherthala. As many as 1,751 people have been accommodated in these camps, while the official figure for people affected in various ways in the rain is 61,600. The total damage caused is estimated at Rs. 75 lakh, an official bulletin said.

Areas where seawater entered houses, forcing people to take shelter in nearby Government schools, churches and community halls, included Cherthala, Pattanakad, Kuthiathode, Kadakarapally, Kalavoor and several others in Karthikapally and Ambalapuzha. In Alappuzha beach, local people put the number of inundated houses at 300.

Beach ward councillor R.J. Vishnu said nearly 300 people from the ward and Vadackal were accommodated at a relief camp at Vadackal.

Deputy Collector K.G. Raju, who is overseeing the relief operations at Ambalapuzha, said the district administration had arranged for doctors to visit the relief camps, apart from providing the displaced families free ration.

While fishermen have been warned against venturing into the sea, senior officials have been placed at vulnerable spots to monitor the situation.

People and political and cultural leaders from Arattupuzha announced on Thursday the formation of the “Theeradesha Kootaima - Arattupuzha,” a collective that will fight for completion of the rehabilitation of those displaced in Arattupuzha by the tsunami in December 2004.

At a press conference here, leaders of the forum said the various promises made by several authorities who visited the area after the tsunami, including the Prime Minister, were yet to be realised.

“It was said that Arattupuzha would be rebuilt as a model village. Crores of rupees were announced for various projects, but so far, not even a seawall has come up there. There has been no transparency on the utilisation of tsunami funds; neither have small-scale traders been compensated for the losses they suffered during the calamity. We will also fight for the loans of those affected by the tsunami to be waived,” the leaders said.

Our Staff Reporter writes from Thrissur: A seven-year-old girl and a 70-year-old woman were injured when a tree fell on two houses in Kodungallur.

The tree fell on houses owned by Kottappuram Makkal Krishnamurthy and Pankajakshi, causing a reported loss of property of Rs.37,000. Five houses in Puthur, Tholur, Anthikad and Manakkodi were partially damaged with losses estimated at Rs. 30,000.

Houses owned by Palakkal Khadeeja and Kunjilachi Panthalloorkkaran Paili in Mukundapuram taluk were partially damaged in the rain.

Nine families were evacuated to a relief camp set up at the Kara St. Albana School. Eighteen families in Valappad sought refuge in their relatives’ houses.

The sea was relatively calm at Chavakkad on Thursday.

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1,700 people in relief camps in Alappuzha

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