Central team to focus on sectors hit hardest by flood

  • | Saturday | 15th September, 2018

Idukki is the worst hit district, where 2,130km roads have been damaged closely followed by Ernakulam, where 2,105km roads have been damaged. The combined losses of the handloom industry in Chendamangalam are estimated at Rs 15 crore,” the report said. Ernakulam district, where 96 boats have been damaged, tops the list. A whopping 12,452.2 hectares with fish farms worth Rs 10.21crore have been badly affected due the calamity. In addition to control systems, 10 power transformers were inundated and 10 major transmission corridors were interrupted.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Central team from the ministry of home affairs, which will visit the state to make assessments about flood-related losses, will focus on the hardest hit sectors, as pointed out by the state government in its memorandum submitted before the ministry on Thursday.As per the 40-page memorandum, the floods and the landslides claimed 339 lives and destroyed 1,11,356 urban and 6,92,848 rural houses, predominantly in Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta , Thrissur and Wayanad.The memorandum, which has pegged the losses at Rs 4,796 crore, says that 235 boats were fully damaged. Ernakulam district, where 96 boats have been damaged, tops the list. A whopping 12,452.2 hectares with fish farms worth Rs 10.21crore have been badly affected due the calamity. The flood has resulted in the death of 40,188 large animals, 7,765 small animals and 7, 99,256 birds.The memorandum finalised by additional chief secretary (revenue and disaster management) P H Kurien says that five major hydro-power stations and seven small hydro-electric power projects in the state have been hit. The damage in the transmission wing includes 50 substations, of which 22 stations got submerged. In addition to control systems, 10 power transformers were inundated and 10 major transmission corridors were interrupted. Coming to the distribution sector, 284 electrical sections in six districts were impacted, 1,000 distribution transformers were submerged, 3,500km distribution lines were destroyed, 30,000 electric poles were damaged and five lakh single-phase and one lakh three-phase energy meters were damaged.The loss estimates that 9,538.45km roads have become non-motorable and Rs 95.38 crore would be required to immediately restore the damages. Idukki is the worst hit district, where 2,130km roads have been damaged closely followed by Ernakulam, where 2,105km roads have been damaged. In addition, as many as 510 bridges also have been damaged due to the calamity.On rescue front, the state government mobilized 58 teams and 207 boats of the NDRF, 23 columns and 104 boats of Army, 94 rescue teams, one medical team, nine helicopters, two fixed wing aircraft and 94 boats of Navy, 36 teams, 49 boats, two helicopters, two fixed wing aircraft and 27 hired boats of Coast Guard, 22 helicopters and 23 fixed wing aircraft of Air Force, three companies of Border Security Force, 10 teams of CRPF and one water vehicle team of the BSF.It was in addition to these that 669 boats with 4,537 fishermen set off for rescue, who would have saved at least 65,000 lives, the state’s report said.The state’s report also made a special mention about weavers’ community of Chendamangalam who weave a special kind of cotton cloth, which has a geo-indication tag.“For an already-dying craft, struggling with mechanised textile industries , the floods are threatening to be a final nail in the coffin. The combined losses of the handloom industry in Chendamangalam are estimated at Rs 15 crore,” the report said.

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