Kerala: Flood ravaged Chengannur people say it is their second birth

ALAPPUZHA: Majority of the inmates in various relief camps in Chengannur told TOI that it was their second life and they had seen death very close in the form of flood waters.
The 25-year-old Chinnu was standing in front of Nair Samajam School, Mannar with her seven- month -old child. "I saw Titanic film many years ago. However, on last Monday the memory of that film came to my mind when flood waters were swallowing our dream home in short span of time.We did not have any idea what was happening. The water first reached our courtyard. We thought it happened because of heavy rain. However, soon it started to enter our rooms and we understood things were turning dangerous as water started to reach above our knees. I somehow ran away from their with my baby ,husband and mother-in-law. We were helped by the rescue teams to reach this school safely. My husband today went to our home to see how the situation was. He told me we had lost all in our home and our dream home, which was constructed a year ago, also in a damaged condition,’’ she said.
Though the houses of Satheessan and Pratheeshkumar of Pandanad in Chengannur were swallowed by flood waters, they were active on Monday too in rescue operations after sending their families in relief camps safely. They were not ready to stay in relief camps. They were searching in the interior areas of their village on Monday for confirming that nobody remains stranded in their village.
The small country boat for angling and rearing duck was used by these two men for saving many stranded families in Chengannur. Both started the rescue operation far away the NDRF and ITBP forces reaching to save the people on August 18.
Satheessan said, "I started rescuing people from August 15 evening 10 pm. My house Drishya Nivas was engulfed in flash flood. I sent my wife Prasanna and two children to neighbors’ terrace. After that, I started the rescue operation in the small country boat which was being used for angling in the river. In that night alone, I have saved more than 40 people, ‘’ he said. We will today night move to relief camps for having food and sleeping, they said.
The rescue teams shifted 17136 families to 203 relief camps in Chengannur till date.