Date:19/07/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/19/stories/2007071955430600.htm

Tamil Nadu

Two killed, 7,000 displaced in Alappuzha

Staff Reporter

District administration opens 38 relief camps

Water world: Many roads have been under water due to incessant rain in Kuttanad in the past two days. Local people are using country boats to commute. A scene from Nedumudi.

ALAPPUZHA: Two persons were killed and more than 7,000 people displaced as rain continued to batter the district on Wednesday. Fifty-nine relief camps have been opened, 47 of them on Wednesday alone after 324 houses were damaged.

George Mathew, 67, of Thiravandur in Chengannur, was electrocuted after coming into contact with a loose electric wire and Harikumar, 35, of Muthukulam in Karthikapally, was drowned. The incessant rain till Wednesday noon and strong currents in the rivers from the high ranges forced the authorities to open all 26 shutters of the Thottapally spillway to allow the waters to flow into the Arabian Sea.

The worst-hit areas in the district, where rising water levels forced people to leave their homes and move to relief camps, were Mavelikara, Chengannur and a few parts of Karthikapally taluk, particularly Veeyapuram, Pallipadu and Payipad. Thirty-eight camps opened on Wednesday were in these three taluks, while nine were in Ambalapuzha. Three houses were completely damaged and 321 partially in the district.

Authorities were yet to open any camps in Kuttanad, where the water levels kept rising by the hour.

However, Collector V.K. Balakrishnan, who visited several areas in Kuttanad by boat on Wednesday, said the situation could force the opening of camps by Thursday. Several stretches of main roads including Alappuzha-Changanassery road and Kayamkulam-Punalur road, were submerged, affecting traffic. Roads to several low-level areas near these places too were submerged, cutting them off from the rest of the district.