Kerala - Alappuzha   

Rs.10.5-crore monsoon loss in Alappuzha

ALAPPUZHA: The cost of rain-related damage in the district in the last two weeks has been pegged at Rs.1.14 crore. Addressing a review meeting on the situation at the District Collectorate on Sunday, Coir and Cooperation Minister G. Sudhakaran said two lives were lost in rain-related incidents while 39 houses were completely damaged. As many as 792 houses suffered partial damage.

About 42 relief camps were opened, of which 12 were in Karthikapally. Sixteen relief camps are still functioning.

Including damage inflicted by rains in the last two weeks, the total loss suffered on various counts in the district from the beginning of the monsoon season was pegged at Rs.10.5 crore. While the district administration has received Rs.3.5 crore, the government would be asked to sanction the remaining sum at the earliest, the Minister said.

On bund breaches, Mr. Sudhakaran asked the district administration to submit reports and ensure that farmers got funds for repair and maintenance of the bunds. The Minister also asked the administration not to pressurise inmates of camps to return to their homes as soon as the water receded.

“We should make sure that the homes are safe enough before they return,” he said, also directing officials to arrange for free rations to people whose livelihoods were affected by rains.

Mr. Sudhakaran, lamenting that none of the remedial measures initiated to solve the misery caused by tidal wave attacks at Arattupuzha worked, called on experts to evolve an effective and sustainable solution. Work on the sea wall here was lagging and people were forced to move to relief camps every time the sea turned rough, he said.

Asking District Superintendent of Police C.H. Nagaraju to take stringent action on bootleggers, who were “very active during the monsoon”, the Minister said instances of law and order violations were on the rise and had to be curbed.

Additional District Magistrate Koshy John, Mr. Nagaraju and officials from all government departments except the Civil Supplies Department attended the meeting.

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