Kochi: The rising Periyar inundated more areas in Ernakulam on Thursday as flood water submerged upto seven km of mainland from the coastline with many people still trapped in first floor of their houses in areas like Choornikkara and waiting to be evacuated.
Many relief camps got inundated on Thursday forcing the inhabitants to be moved to high-lying areas. "Out of 16 relief camps, flood waters submerged eight of them including NSS Hall. Now we've moved them to new camps opened at Polytechnic Hall, Najas Public School, Rajagiri School and Cochin Public school among others. Another issue is that the camps have run out of water and food. There is no gas cylinder and no light at the centres. There is a need for food packets being dropped by helicopters," said C P Usha, Eloor chairperson.
The relief camps got filled by Thursday morning itself as temporary shelters were provided in offices of industrial companies and hotels in areas like Eloor and Muppathadam. Country and fishing boats were brought in from North Paravur and Thottakara spillway and deployed in areas like Kaintikkara and Muppathadam for rescuing stranded people.
A channel of Periyar breached banks and got diverted from near Mariyapuram Church in Thaikattukara as flood water inundated the National Highway stretch at Companypaddy and flowed into low-lying areas of Muttom. The traffic through the highway was hit as long queue of trucks, KSRTC buses and other vehicles could be seen from both sides. The metro yard got submerged in flood waters as metro services were stopped from Wednesday midnight.
However, with people getting stranded at many places along the Aluva-Kalamassery corridor, metro services resumed by 4 pm on Thursday.
"The metro trains were operated with focus mainly on rescue operations and the services were free. The frequency of trains were less and ran at a maximum speed of 25 KMPH," a metro spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, water level in Kochi backwaters rose on Thursday forcing the State Water Transport Authority to stop services.
"The service boats were instead deployed for evacuating people from islands like Pizhala and Kuramkotta where water entered the relief camps too, said Sujith M, Ernakulam Superintendent.
