High waves lash Thrissur coastline

Panic

gripped the coastal areas of Thrissur as high tidal waves lashed the coastline

from Sunday midnight. As many as 55 houses and several roads in the coastal

belt of Vadanappilly and Kodungallur areas were flooded after huge waves lashed

the coast.

Around 200 families living in two coloniesclose to Vadnappilly beach are facing

flash flood threat since huge waves were constantly battering the coast and

their hamlets for the past 24 hours.Chavakkad

tahasildar Mohammed Rafeeq told ‘Express’ that the waves have flooded more than

55 houses in the area and damaged five houses completely. The coastline

covering an area of about 100 m was flooded after huge waves advanced to the

shore, he said.A

relief camp has been opened at Kadheejumma Memorial School at Pokkencherry in

Vadanappilly. The residents of the coastal region said they were unable to

sleep over the night, fearing from the advancing waves. The worst affected were the areas of Vayal Devi Temple, AK Peedika, and

Pokkencherry. They said that the sea walls built at various places in the area

are too low and weak to check the onslaught of the waves.The

Kodungallur tahasildar told ‘Express’ that that there was a rise in the seawater

level from Sunday midnight. Huge waves that lashed the coastal areas in Arappathodu,

Puthiyathodu and Kara have created panic among the people, forcing some of them

to evacuate their homes, he said.The

change in the sea behaviour was visible on the Vadanappilly Beach, with tall

waves advancing to the shore. Several coconut trees and Casuarina trees, a

bioshield against rough seas on the coastline, too, were uprooted in many

places. Fishermen who ventured out to sea said that this was first time in this

monsoon season that the sea had turned so rough in a particular region.

In some areas, fishermen had abstained from fishing on Monday. They said that

the sea had eroded a major part of the coastline, adversely affecting traditional

fishing activity along the area.Local

residents have long been demanding better maintenance of the sea wall. However,

the district administration dubbed that the situation is under control. Control

rooms which were opened at the taluk headquarters, have been monitoring the

situation.

There is no need to panic as of now and the district machinery had been placed

on alert, informed district administration. A large number of people are also

flocking to the beach to watch the phenomenon.RDO

K Muraleedharan, deputy tahasildars Anil and Premchand visited the affected areas.

Sea

fury in KollamKollam:

The

surging waves have been posing a threat to the coastal villages and fishermen along

the Kollam coast. The waves gained strength along the Kakkathope, Kurishinmoodu,

Gulfil Nagar, Thanni, Adhichamanthoppu, Lakshmipuram and Kochuthoppu coastal

belt near Eravipuram here.Giant

waves that lashed the shoreline created panic among the coastal hamlets which

are most vulnerable to erosion. The district administration has evacuated around

24 families from Tanni area as a precautionary measure.C

T Suresh Kumar, Fisheries Deputy Director, told Express that the families had been

lodged in the relief shelter and would be moved to the houses constructed under

the Tsunami Rehabilitation Project at Mayyanad, once they were completed. He

said that the situation was alarming along the coastal areas in the district. District

Collector P G Thomas, Irrigation and Fisheries Department officials and ward

councillors visited the affected areas.The

Kadalora Jagratha Samithi convener Dallappan said that the surge of waves occurred

along the coastal belt was a phenomenon that would not last for more than 24

hours.