Adding to COVID-19 and lockdown woes, the heavy rainfall that lashed Kanyakumari district on Thursday took a serious toll on the lives of local residents. Although parts of the district have been receiving rainfall for more than two weeks, the district witnessed heavy downpour on May 25 and 26. Due to this, several low-lying areas, including agricultural fields, were inundated. More than 650 hectares of agriculture and horticulture crops have been flooded, confirm official sources, while 10 houses have been fully damaged and as many as 330 houses were partially damaged. Besides this, several trees were uprooted due to the heavy rainfall.
Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management KKSSR Ramachandran, and Minister for Information and Technology and MLA of Kanyakumari district’s Padmanabapuram T Mano Thangaraj inspected the affected regions and took stock of the damage on Friday along with District Collector M Arvind.
Speaking to media persons, Minister Ramachandran said, “Inspections to identify the exact damages are still underway. However, so far, no loss of life has been reported due to the rainfall and floods. More than 760 people from low-lying areas have been evacuated to relief camps. About 173 electrical poles and 20 transformers have been damaged, an order has been issued to restore all at the earliest.”
“After inspection the report will be submitted to Chief Minister MK Stalin for compensation, and if need be additional compensation will be provided as per the damages incurred by people,” the Minister said.
Local residents urged the government to intervene and provide compensation for the damages at the earliest. Speaking to TNM, a resident of Thiruppathisaram village in the district, said, “Low-lying areas were severely affected as the water rose waist-deep. Hundreds of people have lost their belongings. We’ve hardly recovered from the COVID-19 crisis and now this rainfall and subsequent floods have worsened the situation. The government should intervene and provide financial aid.”
Sam, another local resident, said, “Due to the heavy downpour, water entered the fishing hamlets through the AVM Channel. The houses of fishermen in Singaravelan Colony and other hamlets in the coastal regions have been damaged due to flooding. A thorough inspection must be held by the officials.”
Meanwhile, the district has been seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases recently. On May 27, 979 new cases were reported while as many as 10,536 patients are currently under treatment. Officials claim measures are being taken to control the spread despite the floods.
As per sources at the Regional Meteorological Centre, light to moderate rainfall is expected to continue in Kanyakumari district on May 28 and 29. Thunderstorms along with moderate rain is expected at isolated places in the district till June 1.