Panic-buying at provision stores, petrol pumps

Kochi: Panic-stricken people could be seen rushing to supermarkets and stores to buy essential commodities in bulk quantities as the few petrol pumps which were opened on Thursday too witnessed heavy rush with the flood situation in the district getting worse.

While nearly 50 petrol pumps were closed after they got inundated, many others too didn't operate as the power supply remained disrupted throughout the day.A long queue of vehicles could be seen before the pumps that remained opened with reports of fuel supply getting disrupted. This as the traffic movement through the national highway was affected with flood waters submerging areas like Companypaddy and Aluva.

"People were rushing to the store late on Wednesday as we could not shut the shop till 11 pm. A heavy rush was witnessed right from Thursday morning as people began stocking up rice, bread, biscuits and other essential commodities," said N C Appachan, the owner of a store at Kaloor-Kadavantra Road.

Meanwhile, electric supply to many areas continued to get disrupted which make the rescue and relief operations difficult. The KSEB offices got frequent phone calls requesting to restart power supply. 

"We can't restart the power supply as it increases the risk of people getting electrocuted with the electric lines getting into contact with waters. The supply will get restarted as soon as the water level in Periyar and its branches recedes," a KSEB official said.