Heavy rains leads to collapse of two houses in Madurai district

“Our family had a narrow escape on Saturday, as a tree fell on our house and it collapsed. We have lost everything and stand homeless,” said P. Sevannam, 40, a resident of A. N. Puram in Keela Kallandhiri in Madurai district here on Monday.

Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P. Moorthy, who carried out inspections of the houses affected in Keela Kallandhiri due to the heavy showers recorded in the past two days, said that fair compensation would be given to the affected families.

He also visited the families of daily-wage labourers P. Aiyankalai, 52, and P. Kesavanmoorthy, 42, on whose mud houses a neem tree fell leaving the houses heavily damaged.

Speaking to The Hindu, V. Muthukaruppi, 35, wife of Mr Kesavanmoorthy said that there was a strong wind accompanied by thunder and lightning when the tree fell around 6.30 p.m. on Saturday.

Luckily their children were not injured, the families said and added that it was the villagers who rescued them through the broken roof.

M. Vasanthi and her family have been forced to spend the last two nights at her relative’s house two streets away in A. N. Puram in Keela Kallandhiri as the electricity pole in front of her house is in a precarious state and might topple anytime.

The power that got disrupted around 5 p.m. on Saturday has not been restored until Monday. “The local shop ran out of candles and mosquito coils on Saturday itself. We had to go charge our phones in our relative’s house in Azhagarkoil,” she said.

Four trees in the same street fell which were removed by private workers hired by the villagers. “Though panchayat officials including panchayat president M. Asai Thambi visited the spot, no action was taken,” many villagers alleged.

The cowshed next to Ms Vasantha’s house has also collapsed and a calf died in the incident.

“We had knee-deep sewage water seeping into our house and we have spent two days pumping it out,” complained A. Sahibu Nisha, 50, another resident of the area.

The Minister said that officials of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco) have been instructed to repair the damaged electricity poles on a war footing with additional staff. While panchayat officials have been directed to ensure drinking water is supplied to affected areas through water tankers.

Further, the Revenue Department officials have been instructed to conduct a survey of damaged houses and disburse relief across the district.

A sum of ₹4,100 each has been disbursed to the seven families in Kallandhiri whose houses were damaged in the rains, stated a press release.

The victims would be temporarily accommodated in community halls and would be provided with basic amenities, as per the Minister’s instructions.

Collector S. Aneesh Sekhar, Additional Collector (Development) S. Saravanan, Sholavandan MLA A. Venkatesan, District Revenue Officer R. Sakthivel and others were present during the inspection.