Monsoon-related calamities claimed five more lives on Saturday. The body of a person reported missing from Kollam on Friday was recovered. With these, the toll over the last six days rose to 14.
Of the five deaths reported on Saturday, two were from Thiruvananthapuram district and two from Thrissur district. One person was drowned in Pathanamthitta district.
About 20 houses were destroyed in heavy rains and floods in different parts of the State during the past one day. According to reports received at the control room here up to 4 pm, 328 houses were damaged. The total loss is estimated to be of about Rs. 22 lakhs. Two more relief camps each were opened in Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha districts.
In Alappuzha district, crops in about 528 hectares were destroyed. The loss is estimated to exceed Rs. 1 crore. With these, the total loss caused by heavy rain and floods in the State crossed Rs. 30 crore. As many as 28569 persons are now housed in relief camps in different districts. More than half of them are in Alappuzha district.
Following heavy rain in Idukki district, the Lower Periyar reservoir is nearing the full reservoir level. The collector advised caution by those living on the banks of Periyar, as spillways of the dam was likely to be opened any time.
The Deputy Leader of Congress Legislature Party G. Karthikeyan criticised that the government had failed to reach sufficient assistance to those affected by heavy rain and floods. Even some of the people who had lost their homes had not been moved to relief camps or provided with free rations. Some had been marooned, but no help had reached them.
