Heavy rainfall has come with disastrous effects in India in many areas. Continuous rainfall has led to landslide and accidents in many areas. One such tragic incident occurred in Idukki, Kottayam district on 9 August, Thursday.
In Kottayam district of Kerela heavy rains and landslide claimed the lives of 9 people and two went missing. Out of these 9 five were members of Adimaly family.
The incident took place in KeerikkalPeriyar valley. Mr KoottakkalAugusthy, 70, and his wife Mrs ElikuttyAugusthy, 65, were sleeping in their bedroom. All of a sudden their house collapsed taking their lives. Three of their family members barely managed to escape.
Name of Deceased
Amongst the deceased were Mr Augusthy and Mrs Augusthy. Grandchild of Mr. and Mrs, Augusthy, Vipin escaped along with his wife, Jessy, and their one-year-old daughter. Ms Meenakshi, 93, wife of late Kumaran of Karikulam and Ms Thankamma, 47, wife of Mani of KambilikandamPanthapillil. Children of Ms Meenakshi, Usha, 57, and Rajan, 52, are missing.
Ms Meenakshi’s body was found in a severed way. Her body was entangled on a branch of a tree half a kilometre away from her house. It had been washed away from her house. Rescuers found her in the morning with one leg and stomach severed. Search for her children is still going on.
Ms Thankamma died around 5:15 am, after the landslide. Her body was washed off from her house and found half a kilometre away. Her husband, Mani, and her son, Shine, faced minor injuries but managed to escape.
In Adimaly family, Mrs FathimaKutty, 65, her son Mujeeb, 38, daughter in law Shammena, 35, and her grandchildren, Diya, 7, and Miya, 5, all died during the landslide. Mr Kutty and his relatives managed to escape and are safe. Bodies of the deceased family members were found by police and firefighters after an extensive search.
Situation in Kottayam
Landslides and heavy rainfall are causing trouble for people living there. Continuous rainfall is causing cracks and weakening of houses. Houses that do stay strong get washed off with landslides. People are facing problems even in following a daily routine. And that too when the rainy season is not over yet. Rains are going to be unpredictable for the entire season and may or may not cause further havoc.
As of now, the average rainfall from 1st June 2018 to 8th August 2018, in Kerela is 1739.4 mm. On an average, it should be 1508.2 mm, so this shows that rainfall this year has increased on many folds in Kerela. The temperatures although are still 30˚ C during the day and 24˚ C during the night.
People living in such conditions need help. Police and firefighters alone cannot do all the work. Although people over there have shown a great example of humanity by volunteering with police to look for missing people. The Government should take appropriate action to help the people who are losing their houses in the rain.