People in half a dozen houses at Pachakkil near Malaparamba in Kozhikode are living in perpetual fear after the widening works of the national highway began in the region recently. The fear was justified when mud heaped up for the road work washed into the plot of Sreeja P.N. in the heavy rain on Saturday night.
“It was like a landslip. My whole courtyard got covered in a thick coat of mud. However, the flow got diverted when my compound wall collapsed and thus the water did not enter my house,” said Ms. Sreeja, who lives alone in her house, recounting the anxiety she experienced at midnight when she could not turn to anyone for help.
Sreeja’s house is one of the few ones located at a lower level from the highway. The service road of the highway passes in front of her house. It was the soil piled up to construct the service road that washed into her plot as well as two nearby plots.
“The contractors carrying out the highway work are not concerned about the public’s safety despite repeated requests. What happened on Saturday is likely to be repeated in the next heavy rain if sufficient steps are not taken. We haven’t had a flooding problem until now. But in the present condition, it cannot be ruled out”, she added.
The mud also polluted four to five wells in the region, including Ms. Sreeja’s. They now bring water from a nearby house for their daily needs.
The residents in the region have prepared a memorandum to be submitted to the District Collector, the National Highway Authority of India, and the Village Officer in this regard.
Meanwhile, the contractors have made arrangements to clean up the courtyard.
