Light at the end of the tunnel
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After twelve days of frightening flood and massive dislocation of life, and widespread loss of property, Keralites look like seeing light at the end of the tunnel. The state is limping back to normal with glimpses of sun in the air.
On Monday, rescue efforts reached their final stage and all seemed to look forward to the next phase of rehabilitation and reconstruction.
On the health front, clean-up operations have already started and medical teams have started descending on disaster-hit locations. The first team from Maharashtra arrived in Thiruvananthapuram.
With a respite in rain, water level has started going down. Rescue operations remain to be completed only in the worst flood-hit areas of Chengannur, Paravur, Pandanadu, and Nelliyampathy. Hundreds of stranded were transferred from Kuttanad and Chengannur to disaster relief centres.
Three employees of KSEB who were stranded in a power station in Sholayar, were air-lifted by helicopter. There are over fifty people still there, including employees.
In Nelliyampathy, which got isolated following road disruption caused by landslip, the rescue attempts faced cllimatic hurdles. Three choppers sent by navy to bring out patients, the aged and pregnant women had to return due to rain and heavy fot. Another helicopter of a private hospital with a medical team also was forced to make a similar retreat.
The military accelerated the speed of evacuation. The rescue mission, in full relief gear including food, will most probably be ended on Tuesday. At the same time, water level in Vembanad canal in Kuttanad and Upper Kuttanad has not receded. The weather forecast is that there is no chance of heavy rain now. Red alert has been lifted in all the phases.
Although many people have returned home from certain camps, 9,28,015 people are still staying in 3,686 camps.
Monday was free from mishaps except for the retrieval of some dead bodies. Dead bodies of Lijo, an engineering student who went missing during rescue operations in Mala, Thrissur and of Gopinathan who was swept away in the current in Amballur, Ernakulam were recovered on Monday.
Another dead body found, was of the four-year old Vishnu who got submerted in earth following landslide in Gandhi Nagar colony in Cheruthoni. A housewife who drowned to death in chengannur was also found dead.
There are reports that in Ramankary and Vezhapra in Kuttanad, two dead bodies were discovered. An aged man was found dead in a canal near a house in Wayanad.
Official figure of the dead so far is 220. Another 39 are missing. 496 houses have been destroyed completely. 225.48 hectares of land suffered agriculture loss, and the crop loss is estimated at Rs 225.48 crore.
Road and rail transport have almost returned to normal. However, it will take a few more days for train services to be fully restored.
Following the closure of Kochi international airport, the airport at naval base in Kochi was opened for civilian flights after 19 years, with small aircraft put in service. In addition, more flights were arranged for Thiruvananthapuram and Karippur airports.