A sum of Rs.50 crore will be set aside for constructing sea walls along the State's coast, according to Union Minister of State for Power K.C. Venugopal.
In a statement here on Monday, Mr. Venugopal said Water Resources Minister P.J. Joseph had informed him that the sum would be set aside in the budget this fiscal itself. The first phase of construction would be from Purakkad to Chellanam, towards the south of Alappuzha.
This was apart from the recently proposed Rs.12 crore-project for constructing sea walls at the Chethi, Chenaveli and Aayiramthai regions in Cherthala taluk, located north of Alappuzha.
Mr. Venugopal, who visited the affected areas that lack sea walls, where the rough sea had forced several hundreds of families to move to relief camps, said work on the sea wall from Purakkad would begin in September.
The feasibility of constructing breakwater structures 50 metres from the shore, apart from the sea wall, would also be examined, he said.
Meanwhile, the monsoon continued to push more families out of their homes to relief camps, while normal transport has been affected in several low-lying areas and several houses have been damaged across the district. The total financial loss on account of the monsoon so far is estimated to have crossed Rs.3 crore while the agricultural loss is estimated to be to the tune of over Rs.87 lakh.
Holiday
At the same time, considering the alarmingly rising water levels, District Collector P. Venugopal has announced a holiday on Tuesday and Wednesday for all educational institutions in Kuttanad taluk, while educational institutions, excluding colleges and professional and technical educational institutions, in Cherthala and Ambalapuzha taluks, will remain closed on the days.
The number of camps in the district rose to 19 on Monday from the 12 on Sunday, with the total number of families in these camps now being 1,524. Nearly 200 houses suffered partial damage on Monday alone, with the Ambalapuzha and Karthikapally taluks bearing the brunt.
There were 82 houses that suffered partial damage in Ambalapuzha while 65 were damaged partially in Karthikapally. As many as 21 houses were damaged in Cherthala while 17 houses suffered damage in Kuttanad and eight in Mavelikara. The number of houses inundated after the rain and the tidal wave attacks along the coast and the rest of the district has crossed 1,000.
Bund breach
A bund breach in the Kombankuzhi paddy polder near the Tirumala ward has partially submerged about 450 houses while the Kavalam-Thattassery ferry service had been cancelled due to the rising water-levels in the Pampa river. This has forced people in Pulinkunnu, Kavalam and other nearby regions to take detours to reach the main road, some of them having to travel an extra 20 km.
