Kerala - Alappuzha   

110 houses damaged in Alappuzha

Staff Reporter

Rain causes extensive damage to houses, crops

ALAPPUZHA: Incessant rain, accompanied by strong winds, continued to wreak havoc across the district, affecting 2,600 people and damaging 110 houses, on Friday.

Official estimates put the damage to houses at Rs. 13 lakh and crops Rs. 33 lakh. Nearly 4,400 people are in 17 relief camps in Ambalapuzha, Karthikapally, Mavelikara and Cherthala.

Eleven camps are in Ambalapuzha taluk, where 844 families (4,002 members) are lodged.

The worst-affected Komalapuram panchayat area has six camps.

Forty-five houses were completely damaged in the taluk, while 291 were partially damaged over the last two days, tahsildar Antony Dominique said.

The strong winds on Friday evening damaged two houses completely and 42 partially in Kuttanad taluk, where all low-level areas were inundated, tahsildar Najeeb A. Mohammed said.

Nearly 2,500 houses were inundated along the entire Alappuzha coast, while more were inundated in low-level areas in other parts of the district, officials said.

Trees were uprooted at several places. At Komalapuram and Vallikkunnam, four people sustained minor injuries when trees fell on their houses.

The situation in Thekkekara in Mavelikara taluk could turn worse if the rain continued in the night, tahsildar K. Ramachandran Pillai said. Eight houses were completely damaged and 73 partially damaged in this village alone, he said.

Officials were working round the clock to facilitate free flow of rainwater.

Health authorities are organising an Arogya mela at St. Joseph’s Girls Higher Secondary School here on Saturday and Sunday.

Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy will inaugurate the mela at 9 a.m., Alappuzha MLA K.C. Venugopal told a press conference here on Friday.

The camp would focus on creating awareness on diseases, apart from providing specialised treatment for all kinds of ailments.

Allopathy, homoeopathy and ayurveda experts would be present, the MLA said.

District Medical Officer N.N. Murali, who was present, said 923 fresh cases of fever were reported in the district on Friday.

Six of these were suspected to be chikungunya, while 89 were admitted to hospital.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

110 houses damaged in Alappuzha

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu