Pandanad: A nightmare continues

PANDANAD: Residents of

Pandanad

panchayat have stories of survival, grit and compassion etched in their memory for life. The only panchayat in the state where all the 4,500 houses were completely submerged, Pandanad is considered one of the worst-affected local bodies in the entire

Chengannur

taluk.


The unique geographical terrain of the small, leafy town made it vulnerable to the

Pamba River

in spate. The river cuts through the heart of Pandanad, dividing it -- nine wards on one side and 12 on the other. It then takes a circuitous path with the lower end jotted with large swathes of paddy fields.

“The remoteness of our region was one reason why even the district administration woke up late. They focus was on Chengannur all the time, but our houses were already under water,’’ said Joseph Pappachan a gulf-returnee, whose twostoreyed house at Pooparathi was inundated. When the water rose to the height of 11 feet, he swam to safety tugging his wife Thankamma Papachan seated on an inflatable toy boat. “There is nothing left in my house today. I don’t care for what I lost, but am thankful to Jesus that we are still alive,’’ he said.

Nine people died here in the floods, and the numbers would have increased had it not been the courage shown by the fisherfolk who came with their boats and residents who tied ropes from one house to another to save people in distress.

On Tuesday, most of the people staying in relief camps were back home.

“We have started cleaning our homes, which may take several weeks. Drinking water is a major concern as wells are filled with slush from the river,’’ said Sinu B S. She helped five families to stay in the terrace of their house for two days. They had to be rescued after the food stock depleted.

The low-lying Medakadavu and Manarathara colonies were the worst-hit. “We were marooned in water for three days and I swam to the submerged plantain farms to pluck soggy, raw bananas. My family survived on them,” said Sajeev, a resident of Manarathara colony.

NGOs like Tata Trust are providing water to some remote areas after purifying well water using their mobile RO plant. “But we may have to move to

Kuttanad

soon, where there is a huge demand,’’ said Balagopal, a volunteer from TCS.

Every family in Pandanad today is staring at three basic issues: lack of drinking water, cooking gas stove and manual labour for cleaning.

“The local bodies have so far sent over 4,000 volunteers from panchayats as far as Nedumanagad to assist the cleaning work. It is an arduous task, but has been progressing well,’’ said V K Madhu, district panchayat president, Thiruvananthapuram.