Kuttanad emerging clean

Alappuzha: Kuttanad in Alappuzha district is one of the worst hit in the devastating floods that wreaked havoc in Kerala. The state is now slowly returning to normalcy.

Civilians from all walks of life joined hands to clean up Kuttanad after the devastating floods.

In what can be described as one of the biggest ever cleaning missions in India following a natural calamity, volunteers exceeding 60,000 in number reached Kuttanad for the clean-up mission.

They included doctors, engineers, students, electricians, plumbers, snake catchers and even ministers and bureaucrats.

The drive was announced by PWD Minister G.Sudhakaran and Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac after evaluating the flood situation on August 24, for which they received an overwhelming response.

The work has now been completed including the houses, public places and places of worship. After the massive clean-up campaign, people have started entering their homes in Kuttanad and upper kuttanad region.

The region was flooded following the deluge and nearly 2 lakh people were evacuated. As per the reports, several thousands have returned to their homes so far. All the houses except a few along the fields which are still waterlogged have been cleaned.

The cleanup operations will be continued in upper kuttanad as large number of houses are still waterlogged.

Thousands of volunteers took part in the cleaning drive on Thursday which was the third day of the cleaning mission. It was kickstarted from Alappuzha Nehru Trophy finishing point in the morning.

For all the volunteers who signed up online and arrived for the mission, accommodation was arranged by the district administration. Proper preventive medicines like tetanus shots were also administered for these volunteers to prevent infections from cuts and bruises.

The super cleanup mission was something which Kerala has not witnessed until now. Youth, women and children took part in the drive.

The water is yet to recede from the places which have been submerged during the second flood. The water could be removed only if it is emptied using a motor.

Huge pump sets that have been installed at the A C road, will be used to dry up the fields after its work. There was also a rush of people living in the camps at Alappuzha Matha jetty and water transport jetty.