KOCHI:With the incessant rain, life was thrown out of gear in Kochi and its suburbs on Sunday. Several low-lying areas were submerged in water. Besides, the heavy water logging and bad condition of roads also led to severe traffic congestion in the major roads in the city, including Vyttila and Kundannoor Junctions.
City traffic was choked in the unabated downpour and it took several hours for vehicles to cross major junctions. Seaport-Airport Road, Kaloor-Kadavanthara Road, Vyttila-Pettah, Pettah-Kundannoor stretch, Edapally, Thammanam - Ponnurunni Road and SA Road witnessed heavy traffic snarls on Sunday.
More than a hundred families were affected by flooding in the coastal village of Chellanam following heavy rain during the whole of Sunday. The Bazaar and Companypady areas were the worst affected by flooding, which worsened after high tide in the afternoon.
Water seeped into most of the homes after the temporary sand barriers set up by the panchayat authorities were breached in the heavy rain in the morning. Flooding got more serious after about 2 pm.Officers from the Revenue Department are in Chellanam examining the possibilities and need for shifting people living in the flood-affected areas to safer places temporarily. Meanwhile, a report of the Meteorological Department said Ernakulam has received 20.25 per cent more rain than the long-term normal rain of 1,050.9 mm. The district has so far received 1,263.66 mm of rain between June 1 and July 15 this year, the department said.