KOTTAYAM: With another consecutive day with ever-lashing downpour, the monsoon has reaped one more life in the district on Sunday. The locals have found Rajan, 55, of Chathamalayil House at Choorakkulangara near Ettumanoor drowned in a canal at Thavalakkuzhy on Sunday afternoon.
According to the Ettumanoor police, Rajan was caught in the strong water current followed by the heavy rains.
The body was recovered at 1.30 pm on Sunday and is kept in the Kottayam Medical College mortuary. The body will be handed over to the family after a post-mortem examination on Monday. Rajan used to live with his wife Omana, son Rajkumar and daughter-in-law Manju. In another incident, a man was rescued by the Fire and Rescue Services from drowning to death in a stream at Anakkallu near Kanjirappally on Sunday evening. He was identified as Ratheesh, a native of Karukachal.Meanwhile, water started receding from low-lying areas and the shores of Meenachil River along the eastern side of the district.
On Sunday, the farmers and locals of Perumthuruth in the Upper Kuttanadu area re-constructed an outer bund in the Kolathukara and Valiyakara paddy fields in the locality, which was destroyed a day ago in the heavy rain.
“Considering the gravity of the situation, more camps were opened in the district, especially in the Kottayam and Vaikom taluks. Various facilities including free medical assistance have been made available in the camps,” District Collector Ajith Kumar said.The number of camps in Kottayam district has reached 17. The camp arranged in Ponpulary Grama Samithy shed in Veloor has the most number inmates with 97 families depending on the facility. On Saturday, District Collector paid a visit to the camp at Chalukunnu near Kottayam which hosts 11 families.A crop loss amounting to `1.03 crore have been reported from 35.83 acres of affected areas in the district.