IDUKKI: The horrors of 2018 flood returned to haunt the residents of Kaliyar on Thursday as several houses were submerged after the swelling Kaliyar River, a tributary of Muthirapuzha river, breached its banks after heavy rain.
24-year-old Vineetha Krishnan, a final-year diploma student, along with her brother and widowed mother, had just completed the painting of their house three days ago prior to her engagement to be held next month, but the floodwater from Kaliyar River that entered their house on Thursday dashed their hopes.
Vineetha’s father Krishnan had died three years ago and her mother managed to meet the family expense from the income she earns from stitching clothes. “In the 2018 flood, our house was fully submerged in the floodwater. However, with government aid and our own savings, we managed to conduct repair works on the house. But still, the floor and basement areas are in a damaged condition,” Vineetha said.
When floodwater recedes, the house will weaken further. Apart from Vineetha, 13 other families in Kaliyar area are also facing flood threats. “The floodwater has entered as many as 10 houses located on the banks of Kaliyar River and if the rain continues, the remaining houses will also get flooded,” Kaliyar panchayat member Ramya Manu said.
Water to be released from Mullaperiyar today
Idukki: The public works department officials of Tamil Nadu are planning to release water from the Mullaperiyar dam at 10am on Friday. They issued the first warning as the water level reached 136ft at 7pm on Thursday. The spilling time may get altered depending on the variation in water inflow. The dam was receiving an inflow of 9,106cfs at 7pm and Tamil Nadu was drawing 1,912cfs through the tunnels. The reservoir has a storage capacity of 6,118 cubic ft.