The Hindu : Kerala News : Man missing as rain pounds Malappuram

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Man missing as rain pounds Malappuram

Staff Reporter

One dead in house collapse in Kannur district

Rescue mission: People searching for the body of a man who went missing after being washed away in a swollen canal at Alathur Padi, near Malappuram, on Tuesday.

MALAPPURAM: Incessant rain and accompanying landslips inundated much of the district on Tuesday, affecting life and cutting off low-level areas. The floods caused widespread destruction, flooding hundreds of houses.

A 30-year-old man went missing after being washed away in a swollen canal at Alathur Padi, near here. Puliyakodan Mustafa is feared drowned. The body could not be found despite a day-long search by local people.

District Collector Sumana N. Menon said more than 1,500 houses were destroyed. Government sources said the loss was estimated at less than Rs. 10 lakh. But it is believed to be much more.

The rivers in the district, including the Bharatapuzha, the Kadalundipuzha and the Chaliyar, are swollen.

Dozens of families were evacuated following a landslip at Cheppilikkunnu, near Kondotty. Vehicular traffic on National Highway 213 had come to a standstill, as the bypass road at Kondotty was inundated. The traffic was restored by afternoon.

Floodwaters entered more than 100 shops at Kondotty, causing heavy losses to traders. Help of the Fire and Rescue Services was sought to rescue a marooned family at Kondotty.

Vehicular traffic on the Palakkad-Kozhikode route had to be diverted via Manjeri, as floodwaters submerged the National Highway at Koottilangadi, near Malappuram, in the afternoon.

In A.R. Nagar panchayat area, 60-odd families were shifted from a flooded colony. Since they had no ration cards, these families are unlikely to get the free rations given to the flood-affected families.

The banks of the Bharatapuzha at Kuttippuram, Tirur and Thirunavaya saw unprecedented flooding. Floodwaters inundated Ponnani town, spreading fear among people, who said that they had not seen such furious floods in recent years.

Rain lashes Palakkad

Staff Reporter writes from Palakkad:

Heavy rain that continued to lash the district for the last one-week has resulted in wide spread destruction of crop, damages to houses and flooding of paddy fields and other low-lying areas. All the rivers including the Bharathapuzha and the Bhavani are on spate.

All the dams, including the Malampuzha dam, in the district are getting filled up fast.

The shutters of Kanjirapuzha and Mangalam dams were opened as they had crossed the danger mark. The water level of Malampuzha dam rose to 360.02 feet on Tuesday. The Full Reservoir Level of the dam is 377.5 feet.

The Malampuzha catchment area received 100.06 mm rain fall on Tuesday. The Pothunday dam area received 100 mm rain and Mangalam dam 109 mm rain.

Seven houses were partially damaged in the heavy rain in Chittur taluk. In Mannarkkad-Attappady route traffic was affected as a result of uprooting trees on the road side. In Shoalyur village in Attappady Hills, 15 houses were damaged, revenue officials have said.

One dead

Staff Reporter writes from Kannur:

A three-year-old child who was injured when a house collapsed at Kanayanur in Irivery village here on Monday died in a hospital here on Tuesday. With this the number of deaths in monsoon calamities in the district rose to six. The deceased has been identified as Muhammed Rafi, son of U. Yusuf.

Meanwhile District Collector Ishita Roy informed that the State Government had released Rs.1.5 crore to the district to provide relief measures to the disaster-hit areas. This was in addition to Rs.6.6 lakh released earlier. An official press release here said that a special team would visit to the district to assess the damage caused by monsoon-related incidents. According to the revenue officials here agricultural crops on 747.68 hectares of land had been destroyed in the calamity. Total loss from this was estimated at Rs.1338.51 lakh. As many as 1,539 houses had been damaged. Of these 49 houses had been fully damaged. The loss was estimated at Rs.63.03 lakh.

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