Kalpetta: More than 4,000 people were affected when flood waters rushed though their houses and properties in four panchayats downstream.
People’s representatives and revenue officials had complained to the district collector about the serious lapses on the part of the KSEB. However, KSEB officials informed the district collector that the unexpected showers in the catchment area resulted in an alarming increase in water level.
Former Padinjarathara panchayat president K.K. Mammootty said the shutters were opened without alerts.
"The shutters were opened by midnight, and it’s a miracle that there was no massive drowning,” he said. “The KSEB must pay for the damages people have suffered.”
It is alleged that the officials violated technical procedures in releasing the water from dam, the second largest earthern dam in Asia. It happened when the DMA chairman directed KSEB to follow all the mandatory safety guidelines before opening the shutters.
People allege that the massive exodus from the villages of Panamaram and Padinjarathara started when water-level alarmingly went up in rivers and rivulets soon after lifting of the shutters.
Abdul Razak, a native of Sulthan Bathery, said those who ran for life due to flash floods even failed to untie the cattle in the stable.
The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority had last week issued a detailed advisory for people living in vulnerable areas including loosening animals before fleeing homes.
The water came up all of a sudden, he said, adding that hundreds of hectors banana farms were submerged.
