IAF offered wings of hope, a homeless tale too

Alappuzha: It’s been a month since flooding in Pandanad, one of the worst-hit areas in Chengannur.

While the constituency is limping back to normalcy, P.T. Subrahmanyam, a resident, has a story of a double whammy to tell.

A construction worker and sole income earner in a family of five, including his 73-year-old mother, he's unable to stay at home.

Not because his home appliances washed away, but Air Force operations in the area caused irreparable damage.

The small two-room brick house has asbestos roof flown away, walls cracked up and doors unhinged and shattered.

The family now lives away with a relative as the structure could collapse anytime.

They come home in the morning and return by evening expecting government officials to assess losses as local officials advised.

"I find it extremely difficult to go forward. I'm out of a regular job for the last one month," he says.

"The only source of income now is from cleaning flooded houses in this area."

He didn't get any assistance from the government, though he had applied for the interim relief of '10,000 announced more than a month ago.

"I had told the village officer about the condition of the house, and the damage helicopters caused. He said they had not started proceedings about the housing projects," he says.

"I can’t stay in this damaged house with these kids. They were sent to school only the other day.  I have no money, and I don’t know how long we could take refuge in relatives."

They fled home on August 15 night after the floodwater rose up to top of the front door.

The choppers were taking the rounds over the isolated Pandanad frequently airdropping relief materials.

One of them took a low-altitude flight over his four-decade-old house, and the heavy wind from its fan shook the house causing severe damage.

"We have lost everything; LCD TV, furniture, and utensils. It turned our life worst from worse," he laments.