Many parts of Kottayam district have been waterlogged after the Meenachil river overflowed. The district has been flooded severely as it has been raining non-stop since Saturday night. 136 relief camps have been opened and around 2,900 people are there in these camps.
After severe floods in Pala on Friday and Saturday, the region was cut off. Later on Saturday evening, the water was drained. But on Sunday, after night-long rains lashed different parts of Kottayam district, several places including Pala, have been waterlogged.
Reports say that the floods in Pala are more severe than what the region witnessed in 2018.
"The condition is more severe in Kottayam Taluk. More camps have also been opened here. If the rain continues, the situation may worsen," Kottayam Collector M Anjana told the media.
On Sunday morning, Justin from Angamaly of Ernakulam district, was reported missing in Palamuri of Kottayam district after his car submerged and the vehicle went with the drift of the flood water. The National Disaster Response Force team which went in search of Justin also met with an accident as their vehicle was submerged in the water, too. Later they continued the search on boats. However, the dead body of Justin was found inside the car in a combined search by the NDRF, Fire Force officials, locals and police.
The streams attached to Meenachil river were also overflowing on the roads in Kottayam, which caused the accident. Most roads in the district are submerged and vehicles are not being allowed to pass. Moreover, hundreds of acres of cultivated land have also been destroyed in the rains and floods.
Kuttanad
The situation of Kuttanad in Alappuzha district has worsened since many bunds (mud walls) protecting the paddy and agricultural fields have broken in the region, and hundreds of acres of cultivation have been washed away. In Pulinkunnu region of Kuttanad alone, 400 acres of paddy fields have been destroyed. Hundreds of houses were reportedly ruined due to inundation.
Speaking to the media, the locals of Kuttanad said that since Saturday evening, the bunds started cracking and they expected that their houses would be submerged soon. Many of them did not even get the time to collect important things at home as they had aged parents or infants and had to shift immediately to relief camps or to the homes of relatives.
The government had sanctioned Rs 49 crore for the construction of stronger bunds in the Kuttanad region due to recurring floods. Locals say that stones were brought and construction work was about to start when COVID-19 struck, and the work was delayed. They said that if the bunds had been constructed, the present condition could have been prevented to an extent.
On Saturday, a two-year-old boy called Lethal Lijo died after falling into a canal near his house in Cherthala of Alappuzha. A 70-year-old woman Saraswathy also died after falling into the canal during heavy rains in Alappuzha.
Due to the swelling of the Manimala river in Kuttanad, some parts of Pathanamthitta and Thiruvalla districts are also badly flooded. The roads are waterlogged, the streams are overflowing and thousands of people have moved from their houses.