Kerala - Alappuzha   

Huge tidal waves lash Alappuzha coast

ALAPPUZHA: Triggering panic along the entire Alappuzha coast, the sea advanced several metres onto the shore, inundating several hundreds of houses at Arattupuzha, Thrikkunnappuzha, Ambalappuzha and other areas on Saturday. Huge tidal waves lashed the shore at several points, adding to the misery of coastal residents.

The tidal waves and the simultaneous advancing of the sea onto the shore, which was most evident on the Alappuzha beach where land was swallowed by at least 10 metres with the water reaching the open air stage here, spread panic along the coast because the phenomenon was “quite untimely,” according to the coastal residents. At Thrikkunnappuzha and Arattupuzha, at least 500 metres of the beach onto the mainland was submerged by 6 p.m. when reports last came in.

Tidal waves are usually seen on such scales only during monsoon. However, Saturday’s developments, which saw the seawall at Thrikkunnappuzha being submerged and the coastal road from Valiyazheekal to Arattupuzha being inundated for at least 2 km, triggered fears and brought back memories of the December 2004 tsunami. Many people in the Vadackal and Beach ward areas in Alappuzha were contemplating moving to other places temporarily.

District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan said officials were stationed at Arattupuzha and Ambalapuzha.

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

Stories in this Section

Land Reforms Act needs change: Sudhakaran
Huge tidal waves lash Alappuzha coast

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu