Saving the Valuables

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The heavily-inundated areas in Maruthamkuzhy  presented a harrowing time for the law-enforcement officials to ensure the safety and security of the personal belongings of the residents than to engage in relief and rescue operations on Sunday. In such a flash flood that happened two years ago during night-time, widespread thefts were reported from the area and as many as 11 cases were registered. From Sunday morning onwards, the police were keen on not letting in persons other than the residents to the area and were making frequent mike announcements throughout.

“During heavy flooding, there are chances for outsiders to enter the homes lying closed and pick whatever valuables they could catch hold of. Most often such factors prevent the residents from leaving their houses. This time, we got enough time to alert people in advance, so that they could lock their homes safe and then get themselves evacuated to safety. Until the water level reaches a manageable level for people to return, police will keep a tight vigil over every bylane hit by flooding during night,” said Vattiyoorkavu sub-inspector Anoop R Chandran. Right from seeing the sandbags floating in, police had sent alerts to residents to move.

New Bund in a Month

Major Irrigation would spring into action on Monday to take up the construction of the bund. “We were progressing through the tendering process to commence the work this week itself. Taking into account the present situation, with immediate effect, a sum of Rs 25 lakh is being released to begin the construction of the bund at Thachankara on Monday itself. The broken area would immediately be sealed. The entire works need another Rs 2 crore to complete, for which government nod is awaited,” said N Raju, Thiruvananthapuram Tahsildar.

To bring the water-level under control, sand banks at Thiruvallom and Poonthura were breached.