Corporator lights houses of Thrissur flood victims

Corporator Dayananda Shetty has brought the smile back on the faces of flood-hit victims in Kerala by lighting their houses after repairing the electrical connections.

Shetty, an electrical contractor by profession, has completed the Shramadan (voluntary work) of repairing the electrical connections in the houses in four Gram Panchayats and a CMC in Thrissur district of flood-ravaged Kerala.

During his seven-day stay in Thrissur, he has repaired electrical connections in over a hundred houses in the affected area. He has also given guidance for repairing the electrical connections of over 400 houses.

Following the massive flood, houses had remained marooned for more than a week. With the slush inside the houses, all the electrical connections were spoiled. Without the repair of electric wires, the electrical connections could not be restored in the households. Accordingly, a team of 100 volunteers from Kasargod Government ITI with teachers and students got ready to reach out the victims.

It was a challenge to take up the work on electricity connection with the students who did not have much experience in the work. Hence, Kasargod deputy commissioner decided to send an experienced team of volunteers with the students for guidance and Dayanand Shetty received an invitation from the Kasargod District Collectorate.

Shetty left with a team of six persons from Mangaluru to Thrissur and stayed there. “As all of us had experience in electrical work, we formed seven teams and each team was headed by an experienced electrician. The team worked in the houses at Annamanada, Poyya, Kuluru gram panchayats and Irinjalakuda CMC jurisdiction,” Shetty told DH.

“I have repaired electrical connections of more than 100 houses and have guided others. A majority of the houses were filled with water. Unless the water was drained out, the work could not be carried out as there was a possibility of electricity mishap. The work in the flood-ravaged Thrissur has given me a sense of satisfaction,” he said.

He said thousands of volunteers have come from different parts to take up rehabilitation work in flood-affected Kerala. The government and local bodies are utilising their services effectively. The District Collectorate of Thrissur is distributing the work to the volunteers. The Gram Panchayat president, members and CMC representatives were cooperating with us throughout from morning till evening, he added.