The residents of Korangotta island, situated only a stone’s throw away from Vaduthala, are used to travelling in boats — their only means of transport to reach the mainland.
But they watched in horror when boats were brought to their doorsteps last August as floodwaters entered their homes and submerged the entire island of 88 families. After a week-and-a-half at a relief camp, they returned to stinking houses filled with slush and toilet waste. Nine months later, most residents have picked up the pieces and moved on; some have even given their flood-ravaged homes a fresh coat of paint.
But for a few islanders, the wait continues for the homes the floodwaters took away.
Construction materials have to be transported from Vaduthala to Korangotta Island in boat and then taken to sites, delaying work.
Sitting in their makeshift house covered with tarpaulin sheets, Pradeep V.K. and wife Baby say they do not know if or when they will ever get a proper roof over their heads. The couple’s 23-year-old son and 21-year-old daughter also live with them, in the shed-like structure that has just one tiny room and a kitchen.
“We were living in a similar structure on the four cents of land we owned. The floodwaters made it unliveable. With the money received as flood assistance from the government, I managed to put together this home of sorts,” says Mr. Pradeep, a fish worker like most others on the island.
Their request for a new house as part of post-flood rehabilitation measures has been delayed after the authorities cited problems in their land-related documents. With another monsoon around the corner, Ms. Baby says they are scared and uncertain of what awaits them.
No toilet
Sujatha, another islander who lost her house in the deluge, has been living in a hall on the first floor of an anganwadi building with her husband and 17-year-old twin boys. Their belongings salvaged from the floods have been piled up along the walls. There is no toilet on the first floor and the family uses the one attached to the anganwadi downstairs during class hours. After that, they have to walk to the site of their old house where they have set up a temporary toilet covered with plastic sheets or relieve themselves out in the open.
construction materials have to be transported from Vaduthala to Korangotta Island on boat and then taken to sites, delaying work.
A house, sponsored by private entities, is still in the early stages of construction and may not be ready before the rains. “All the construction materials have to be transported from Vaduthala to the island in the lone boat run by the Cheranalloor panchayat,” says Ms. Sujatha.
Help from hospital group
The difficulty in transportation has also affected Biju P.S., a painter whose house was destroyed in the floods. His family of five, including his aged mother, wife, and two schoolgoing children, lives in a shed covered with tarpaulin sheets while waiting for a house, sponsored by a private hospital group, to take shape.
“The construction materials have just arrived and work should begin next week,” says Mr. Biju.
His new house has been designed to be flood-resistant and he cannot wait to shift his family to the safety of its four walls.
