New wave
The much-awaited Kochi Water Metro was inaugurated this year, making the port city India’s first to have a water metro service. The project was pushed back because of a combination of factors including the pandemic and a delay in the arrival of boats
Path of Resistance
With the LDF government’s Nava Kerala Sadas receiving flak from the Opposition, Youth Congress workers were detained by the police for waving black flags at the bus carrying the CM and his cabinet colleagues
Into the wild
The increased human-animal conflict saw rogue tusker Arikomban repeatedly entering human settlements, following which it was tranquilised and relocated
Lost and found
For 20 hours, a pall of gloom enveloped the tiny village of Velinalloor in Oyoor after six-year-old Abigel Sara Reji was abducted. When the child was finally found in Kollam, a wave of relief washed over.
Seeking solace
As everyone jostled towards former CM Oommen Chandy’s mortal remains at St George Orthodox Church in Puthuppally, his wife Mariamma leaned on a cross in a poignant moment of solitude
Terror tracks
Three persons, including a toddler, were killed and nine suffered burns after Shahrukh Saifi doused passengers with petrol and ignited a blaze inside a train near Elathur railway station
Way of water
Thiruvananthapuram witnessed severe flooding following heavy rain that lashed the district due to a cyclonic circulation. Flooding in low-lying areas left hundreds stranded and displaced
Hands-on
Papal delegate Archbishop Cyril Vasil’s entry into the St Mary’s Basilica in Ernakulam under heavy police protection was reciprocated with intense protests by the parishioners who opposed the Unified Holy Mass
Blaze busters
The Brahmapuram dumpyard, with its huge deposit of plastic waste, caught fire on March 2 and kept smouldering for the next 12 days. Fire tenders, Navy helicopters and fire force personnel, among others, battled to douse the fire
Spirited trek
Thousands of pilgrims thronged the Sabarimala temple to offer prayers during the Mandala Makaravilakku season
Tanur’s tears
A double-decker boat carrying 37 passengers capsized in the Poorapuzha river at Tanur in Malappuram on May 9, killing 22 people, including 15 children.
Fail-safe measures
Nipah broke out again late August, in Kozhikode. A total of six people were infected, two of whom died. Timely precautionary measures ensured that there was no spread beyond the area of origin.
Son-rise
Chandy Oommen recorded a historic win in the bypoll held for the Puthuppally assembly seat which was held by his late father continuously for 53 years.
Kalamassery jinx?
A series of blasts at a Jehovah’s Witnesses convention in Kalamassery claimed the lives of seven people, including a 12-year-old girl, and left several injured critically. The accused, a former member of the congregation, surrendered before the police
Mindless cruelty
Overcrowding and a structurally faulty amphitheatre resulted in a stampede before a music concert on the Cusat campus in Kalamassery, which led to the death of four, including three students
Bihar native Asafak Alam was convicted of the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Aluva, behind the market. The police managed to arrest him the same day and recovered the victim’s body the next day.
pics: T P Sooraj, A Sanesh, Vincent Pulickal, B P Deepu, E Gokul, Shiyami, vishnu prathap & Shaji Vettipuram Layout: Devan Thiruvazhiyode | Edited by: Megha kurian