It will take many days to clean up and revive the drinking water sources of nearly 60 families, mostly wells, in the Velloor-Kodencheri regions in Thuneri grama panchayat which were polluted by miscreants on January 23, senior Revenue Department officials have said.
Miscreants had vandalised houses and dumped household articles, including refrigerators, stoves, gas cylinders, and furniture, in the wells, apparently to avenge the stabbing to death of M. Shibin, a Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) worker, on January 22.
‘Heavy damage’
A senior revenue official from Vadakara taluk told The Hindu the damage was ‘heavy’ as the attackers ‘spared virtually nothing.’ Ten houses were totally gutted.
“In the last two days, we visited 38 out of the 60 houses attacked. In all the houses, there was a definite and clear attempt to contaminate the water sources,” he said.
Most houses were ‘seriously damaged.’ Huge sums would be needed to repair these. All the valuable articles kept inside the houses were destroyed or dumped in wells, he said. “We will make an assessment of the losses in two days,” he said.
Radhakrishnan, a native of Vadakara, said the attackers raided the houses and found the wells to be convenient spots to dump all the articles. “Event kitchen utensils were not spared. The families will be able to use the wells only after removing the debris. Till the cleaning is over, the availability of drinking water will be an issue,” he said.
The murder had upset the delicate political setting so the Nadapuram region. Six others had also suffered injuries in the attack. The act triggered a series of clashes and vandalism.
