The floods battering Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts claimed three more lives on Wednesday.
The deceased were identified as 75-year-old Dasan, 18-year-old Amal and 16-year-old Kasinathan. According to officials Dasan, a native of Thalayazham, near Vaikom, drowned while venturing into a river.
Amal, a Plus Two student, was swept away by floodwaters while venturing into an inundated rubber plantation near Manarcaud. Kasinathan had banged his head against a rock while diving into a temple pond near Thiruvalla.
Earlier in the day, Revenue Minister K.Rajan reviewed the relief and rescue operations in Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts and also visited a couple of relief camps in each of the districts. Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan visited Moonilavu village in Kottayam, which has suffered major damage in back-to-back landslides a couple of days ago.
Though water level in rivers showed a declining trend, low-lying parts of both districts were inundated by the run-off water gushing through the rivers. Most parts of upper and northern Kuttanad remained in deluge, damaging houses and crops including paddy in several hectares of land.
In Kottayam, the authorities have opened 30 relief camps, which together accommodated 672 people. Pathanamthitta has accommodated 561 people in 28 camps.
With the district yet to recover from a flood situation, the Kottayam District Collector has extended the holiday for educational institutions including professional colleges to Thursday as well. In Pathanamthitta, the Collector has declared a holiday on August 4 for all educational institutions in Thiruvalla taluk and to those running relief camps in other taluks of the district.
