Kerala - Alappuzha

Tidal wave attack in Alappuzha

Staff Reporter

200 houses inundated by strong waves; Kollam coast too affected

PRECARIOUS SITUATION: A house stands threatened by waves at Eravipuram in Kollam district on Monday.

Alappuzha: Normal life was thrown out of gear on the Alappuzha coast on Monday with over 200 houses being inundated and people fleeing their homes following a tidal wave attack.

Arattupuzha was one of the worst hit areas. About four kilometres of the Valiyazheekal-Arattupuzha road was damaged. Traffic along this route came to a standstill.

The fierce waves, which lashed the coast at 12.30 p.m., uprooted small trees and destroyed a house at Perumpally. The occupants of the house had moved out two weeks back during the first tidal wave attack of the season.

Seawater entered around 100 houses and 10 coir factories along the Chettikadu-Kattoor-Omanapuzha coastline north of Alappuzha town. The district administration opened one relief camp at Chettikadu and evacuated around 40 families. District panchayat president R. Nazar and other local officials visited Omanapuzha.

Residents of Arattupuzha and Thottapally staged dharnas and blocked National Highway 47 demanding that seawalls be constructed immediately. Relief camps were opened at several places including Karthikapally. Seawater entered houses in Ambalapuzha, Purakad, Thrikkunnapuzha and Poonthala, among other places.

"This is one of the worst tidal attacks after the tsunami. We have been asking the authorities to expedite work on the seawall since then, but they have been delaying it," Communist Party of India (Marxist) local committee secretary Biju Kumar alleged.

District administration officials said the control room at the Collectorate would function round the clock and more relief camps would be opened if needed.

Washed away

Our Staff Reporter writes from Kollam: Fifteen huts and four houses along the Eravipuram-Thani coast in Kollam were washed away by the sea on Monday afternoon. Another 40 houses in this area were under threat from strong waves. Revenue officials rushed to the scene and shifted the residents of these houses to a relief camp set up at the Kottur anganwadi. Many others living in the area left their houses and moved to safer locations.

A good portion of the seawall along the Thani coast was breached by the waves. Portions of the Eravipuram-Thani coastal road were also breached. By noon on Monday, the sea turned unusually rough along the coast from Thani to Tangasseri. The Eravipuram-Thani coast was the worst affected. Several coconut palms in this area were uprooted by the waves. Some of these fell on the nearby houses. Some of the surviving palms were being axed down to avoid more such incidents. Along the Eravipuram coast, strong waves scooped away the beach creating ditches that were more than 10 meters deep. Seawater entered the beach area of the Mahatma Gandhi Park. A good portion of the park's beach was under knee-deep water by 2 p.m. Members of the local fishing community arrived on the scene and dug up several trenches to let the water flow back into the sea. At Tangasseri, behind the Mount Carmel Convent School, a fishing community colony was under threat of waves. Seawater entered some of the houses here. The police requested those living in these houses to shift to safer locations.

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