Kunjumon and his family of four, including two young children, were getting ready to sleep on Wednesday night, when a part of the earth caved in, damaging their house, situated near the Vamanapuram river in Eettimoodu. The family luckily escaped without any injuries. Soon, they were shifted to a relief camp that was opened at Eettimoodu Lower Primary School, after the river swelled in the rains.
“A large crack has appeared near the lintel and water can seep in. If it rains severely again, the earth will cave in further, damaging the house completely,” says Kunjumon.
The camp at the Eettimoodu school has 77 people, who have all been shifted from nearby areas, including Aanakudy and Melattumoozhy. According to village officer Shemeela, who is coordinating the activities at the camp, most of them have been shifted here as a precautionary measure, as the water level in the river was rising alarmingly on Wednesday. She says that many of them might return home in the next two days as things are getting back to normal.
In Vellumannadi, eleven families were shifted to the government school in the locality after the local people heard loud noises from underneath the rocks. The people here were scared of a possible landslip or earthquake.
“We called in officials from the Mining and Geology Department. There is no reason to fear as of now. But these families will continue to stay in the relief camps as precaution,” said D.K. Murali, MLA, during a visit to the camp at Eettimoodu.
At Idinjaar in Peringamala, close to 300 people are staying in two relief camps. Various organisations have come forward to supply food, drinking water, and other essential materials to the camps. At Eettimoodu, the NCC unit of the Mithirmala Boys Higher Secondary School supplied materials on Saturday afternoon.
The Social Forestry Division and Christ Nagar School supplied relief materials to flood victims in the Neyyar sanctuary.
Forty six families of Puravimala, Thenmala, and Kunnathkal Kani tribal settlements are now staying at the Puravimala Lower Primary School.
