The Karassery grama panchayat has urged the district administration to review the flood loss estimate prepared by village and taluk-level authorities.
Panchayat authorities allege that the loss estimate submitted by the Revenue Department was half-baked. It had not considered the magnitude of multiple landslips in the area and had ruined the chance of victims to get rehabilitation support from the State government.
“Even after 26 cases, our panchayat is yet to be included in the list of local bodies affected by landslips. As a result, we have been excluded from all welfare packages announced by the State government. Only through a reassessment of the situation, by a separate revenue squad under the leadership of the District Collector, our problems can be addressed,” said Kumaranellur Abdulla, Chairman of the panchayat’s Development Standing Committee.
“There were several major roads and houses partially damaged in the flood and landslips. Reconstruction of public amenities, mainly roads, would be possible only with a proper financial support from the State government,” he said. According to him, hundreds of houses on the banks of Cherupuzha and Iruvazhinji rivers were also in a dangerous state and should be reconstructed.
Ward members in the panchayat also pointed out that they had given timely updates and all the required documents to prove the magnitude of landslips occurred within the panchayat limits during the monsoon season.
“Revenue, and mining and geology squads had even visited several such spots, but their reports did not mention the magnitude of calamities.”
One such report prepared by the Mining and Geology Department saying that quarrying was not the reason for landslips in Karassery and Kodiyathur panchayats had even irked local residents and environmental activists. The report had put the blame on unscientific levelling of hillocks for agriculture and house construction activities.
Lissy Scaria, Welfare Standing Committee chairperson, said the revenue squad carried out a casual study in the panchayat saying that there were no casualties in the incidents. “Many of the affected people are holding people’s representatives accountable for the slips on the part of Revenue Department squads,” she alleged.