THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The stability and valuation exercise being undertaken by
LSGD engineering officials in
Kuttanad has covered 37,000 houses of which 2,716 houses have been declared unfit for living.
However, the latest government order issued by disaster management department directing officials to assess damage to houses on a five-point scale ranging between 15-75%, has impeded the progress of the exercise.
While the order issued on Monday lays down clear guidelines to determine damage, officials have been visiting flood-affected houses in Kuttanad since August 28 and assessing houses based on a format mainly focusing on damages incurred.
“Some of the points mentioned in the latest order were not covered on the field by the officials. In the wake of new order, we are uncertain whether the work must be redone,” an LSGD official said.
The officials are also facing other challenges in determining the age of a building and type of land in which it is constructed—two of the points in the format given to officials surveying damages in Kuttanad. With many of the offices remaining submerged, official registers were hardly available and the team was also at a loss to find out if the land was a
wetland or dryland.
It is cited that the government might have acted in haste at Kuttanad. Houses in around five panchayats in Kuttanad could not be covered as water has not receded. Officials mainly look for cracks and assess whether the foundation has settled in. “This cannot be ascertained if the house remained flooded. The whole exercise will go in vain if the actual damage of a house in a flooded area cannot be determined. It was communicated to higher ups that we should wait until water recedes so that a clear picture of the house would emerge, but another suggestion came up that damage assessment should be done along with cleaning drive held at various panchayats in Kuttanad,” said another LSGD official.
As per the latest order, houses will be declared 15% damaged if water has risen to knee-level (up to 50cm) or loss of roof tiles below 10%. Houses which suffered damages to floor and electrical and plumbing damages or sustained loss of more than 25% roof tiles will be declared 16-29% damaged. If the wall of house has become weak or water has risen up to lintel level or more than 50% roof tiles have been lost, the house would be declared 30-59% damaged. Houses whose roof has been damaged will come under the category of houses with above 75% damage.
