Government offices in the city functioned on Sunday to coordinate flood relief activities in various districts.
At the Civil Supplies office in Public Office, V. Venugopal, assistant secretary, said working on a Sunday was not really out of the ordinary for department staff as they worked on festival days such as Onam. “We have been leaving office late for the past couple of days. In the current flood situation, we take statistics and go through them before calling it a day.”
Foodgrain was available in plenty, he said. Ration shops had been asked to function on August 24 too, as things were slowly returning to normalty. “Supplyco has given products estimated at ₹100 crore to relief camps.”
The State had asked the Union government for kerosene, as it would be needed to take up sanitation and fogging activities in drains and so on.
The department staff, he said, had been contributing for relief activities.
At the Irrigation department office, V.S. Shaji, Chief Engineer (Mechanical), said all department staff but for a couple of people who lived very far had turned up for work. “Against the backdrop of flooding, we are regularly monitoring dams and other structures. We also met the Secretary and held discussions.”
Water level has gone down in Chalakudy and Aluva. In the Bhoothathankettu barage, it has come down to 30.4 m. “Inflow has come down in the Pampa and Achencoil rivers. Kuttanad is still under water. But it may not recede quickly there, as five rivers join here,” he said.
Besides contributing two days’ salary, the department employees were collecting money for the Chief Minister’s distress relief fund, he said.
