The Hindu : Kerala News : Monsoon fury kills 17 in Kerala

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Sunday, Jun 24, 2007
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Monsoon fury kills 17 in Kerala

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At least 17 persons, including four members of a family, lost their lives in rain-related accidents in different parts of the State on Saturday. With this, the toll in this year’s monsoon fury in the State has risen to 34, according to officials at the State Disaster Management Control Room.

Among the dead, five were from Wayanad district, four from Kozhikode, two each from Kannur, Kottayam, and Kollam districts while one each was from Pathanamthitta and Thrissur districts. A landslip in Mananthavady taluk in Wayanad district claimed the lives of four members of a family, including two children. In another incident, the body a 48-year-old man was found near a river at Thondarnad area in the district.

In Kozhikode, one person was killed when a tree fell on him while he was waiting for a bus in the NGO quarters area on the outskirts of the city. Two persons, including a five-month-old baby, were killed in two separate incidents as trees came crashing down on their house, while another person drowned in a drainage canal at Kannadikkal in the district. A 55-year-old man was killed when his house collapsed at Madayi in Kannur district, and another person died when a tree fell on him at Alakkode in the district.

A 35-year-old man drowned in a canal near Karunagapally in Kollam district and another person died while fishing in the sea off the Tangassery coast. A 35-year-old man was electrocuted when he accidentally came into contact with a snapped live electric wire in the Pandalam area of Pathanamthitta district. A 48-year-old man was electrocuted at Chowur near Cherpu in Thrissur district. In Kottayam district, a 12-year-old girl drowned at Kangazha and a 52-year-old man was drowned at Peringalam.

In the capital city, nine persons were injured when a tree fell on one of the buildings at the General Hospital.

A foot-bridge was washed away by gushing waters at Puthur panchayat, near Attappady, in Palakkad. The area has been practically cut off from the mainland. Rail services that were disrupted in the rain on Friday are yet to return to normal schedule, while several flights operating from the Karipur airport in Kozhikode have been delayed. The rain accompanied by strong winds disrupted power supply in several parts of the State. Most of the coastal areas are facing sea erosion. Meanwhile, the Government has opened 97 relief camps in different parts of the State and 10,921 persons have been shifted to the camps from the areas affected by flash flood and sea erosion. Crops in nearly 536.96 hectares have been damaged in rain fury. While 455 houses have been completely destroyed in the rain, 4,776 houses have been partially damaged, according to official estimates.Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran announced that the State Government had sanctioned Rs.3.15 crore for conducting relief and rescue operations in the areas affected by incessant rain and sea erosion. While the worst-hit Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Malappuram districts would get Rs.25 lakh each, the remaining districts would get Rs.20 lakh each.

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