A massive trail of destruction lies hidden beneath the seemingly placid waters that have flooded both sides of the Kochi metro corridor between Edappally and Aluva.
A commute in a metro train in the 10-km corridor that took over an hour was enough to gauge the scale of destruction that the Periyar, Edappally canal, and other waterbodies caused to families, businessness, and educational institutions. The life-long efforts by a few thousand people remain submerged, God knows for how long.
Floodwaters showed no mercy to places of worship either in the urban corridor that is replete with houses, apartments, highrises, shopping complexes, and automobile dealerships. Their ground floor and oftentimes first floor too were inundated.
Water level climbed up to the roof level of buses and lorries parked in many low-lying areas.
Most metro commuters were desperate to get out of Aluva town and reach safer locales in the city, and trains from there were packed to capacity. They included families who managed to wade through flood waters and reach the national highway, students and workers from other States who wanted to take trains back to their hometowns. Most of them wore an emaciated look due to the looming uncertainty.
Most cellphones have run out of charge. Luckily, metro trains have recharging facility.
Security personnel at the station had a tough job managing crowds who teemed to the station, since both road and rail traffic was hit by flooding. “We have been seeing massive crowds at the station since Thursday from early morning till late in the night when the services are withdrawn. Three wheelchairs and another three stretchers at the station are almost always in use,” said Sanoj Prasad, a security guard at the metro station.
Responding to heart-wrenching pleas from thousands of people, helicopters in the horizon were seen trying to zero in on people stranded atop terraces to winch them to safety. Stranded people were being shifted to safer locales in boats. Relief camps set up in halls, places of worship, and educational institutions located at an elevation too were visible from the metro viaduct. Many families have shifted to upper floors or temporary shelters. Youth were seen walking precariously on compound walls since byroads were flooded.
All along the route, people had brought food packets and bottled water to be transported in the metro to flood-hit areas. Among the volunteers was Gowtham Das, a student pursuing MA (Cinema and TV production). “Our team helped pack and load food items at the indoor stadium. All through day and night, people arrived with food packets in cars and other vehicles,” he said.
While the free metro service that KMRL offered was of considerable help to the stranded people,
‘No joyride’
Shutterbugs and those who wanted to “assess” the damage first hand played spoilsport by occupying precious spaces in crowded trains. Each three-coach train can carry up to 950 people. This tendency prompted KMRL to issue a press release saying that the trains were meant for people stranded at Aluva, Companypady, and other areas that are marooned. “They are not meant for joyriders,” said metro officials.
They also contradicted messages doing the rounds that metro stations are relief camps. “The stations are manned by skeletal staff, since most of them are stranded in their hometowns. Moreover, facilities like drinking water and toilets are minimal or non-existent. Even cleaning staff are unavailable,” they added.
On trains taking over 90 minutes in the 18-km metro corridor, sources said it was due to shortage of power since supply to submerged power lines has been disconnected. It has also resulted in frequency of trains coming down from eight to 20 minutes.
