Thrissur on the way back

Onam celebrations cancelled in district; Ministers review relief efforts

Thrissur is limping back to normality from the devastating floods. All Onam celebrations, including Pulikkali, have been cancelled. Onam markets were not active even on Uthradam day.

Those in the relief camps, including those who left the camps, will get a kit of essential goods, said Education Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar and Education Minister C. Ravindranath.

Distribution of veggies

Village officers have been given the responsibility to distribute vegetables. Village officers and panchayat presidents were asked to make data of damaged houses.

“Nobody should be compelled to leave the camps. Camps will continue till the last person is rehabilitated. People, whose houses had been destroyed totally, should be shifted to permanent camps before August 29. Along with the usual ration, flood-hit families will be given 5 kg rice additionally,” they said.

Children in the camps will be given all facilities to attend schools after Onam holidays, Mr. Ravindranath said.

“You don’t have to worry about textbooks lost in the floods. Textbooks will be distributed after August 31. Notebooks, instrument boxes, and uniforms will also be distributed along with this. Schools will be cleaned and chlorinated before re-opening,” the Minister said.

Burial of carcasses

The Animal Husbandry Department, in coordination with the police, is monitoring the burial of animal carcasses.

Vehicles should be arranged at the panchayat-level to move carcasses of animals, the Ministers said at a review meeting here on Friday. Squads had been formed to prevent vector proliferation and outbreak of epidemics.

The administration conducted an awareness camp for voluntary organisations and counsellors for providing mental support for those who lost everything in the floods. Around 700 people participated in the programme led by the Indian Psychiatric Society.

In all, 1,79,388 people from 48,612 families are staying at the 549 relief camps in the district. This included 32,745 children, 78,507 women, and 68,086 men. A team of school health counsellors, who were trained by the District Mental Health Centre and the Bengaluru-based NIMHANS, has been deployed in relief camps.