Wall Collapse Kills 70-year-old Woman in Karayamputhur

PUDUCHERRY: A 70-year-old woman was killed when the compound wall of her house at Karayamputhur collapsed on her on Tuesday.

Police identified the deceased as Chellammal,  wife of Subramanian, a retired librarian.

The incident took place when Chellammal went to the backyard of the house to wash the utensils after cooking. The mud wall, which had weakened owing to the heavy rains in the past few days, fell on her. Hearing the noise, Subramanian rushed to the spot and with the help of neighbours rescued Chellammal. She was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared her brought dead.

Meanwhile, Anandan (53), a resident of Ouppalam, died during the rains.

In another incident, a second year MBBS student of the government medical college drowned in the Bay of Bengal on Monday. Police said Swaraj (21) of Idukki in Kerala, along with his friends, went to bathe in the sea at Chinnakottakuppam. He was washed away. His friends alerted the fishermen but their search went in vain. Later, his body was washed ashore on Thantriyankuppam beach. Kottakuppam police sent the body to the Government Medical College Hospital for a postmortem.

The body was handed over to relatives on Tuesday.

Taking Stock

The officials of the Territorial administration have started assessment of the damage caused to crops in the recent rains.

According to sources, the agricultural officers and staff of the 22 Uzhavar Udaviyagams were engaged in the survey. According to their findings, plantain, tapioca and beetal leaves cultivation were the worst-hit.

Of the plantain cultivation in 358 hectares of land, crops in 298 hectares were affected while tapioca in 211.1 hectares of the total 267.5 hectares was lost. Of the nine hectares of beetal leaves, 8.9 hectares were damaged.

The sources further said that sugarcane and paddy in 2,311 of the 4,681 hectares was lost,  while horticultural crops in 129 hectares of the total 177 were lost.

However, the exact loss can be assessed only after the water gets drained completely. On completion of the assessment, a report would be submitted, following which the government would decide on the quantum of compensation, sources said.

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