Spirit of Onam binds rainbattered Kerala
A mosque-turned-relief-camp hosts Onam, over 240 youths across communities join to clean up a temple
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala’s major annual festival Onam was marked on Saturday in sombre mood with nearly six lakh displaced people still in relief camps even as the toll in the murderous monsoon rose to 293 and 15 people were reported missing.
Onam is celebrated with great pomp across the state, but this time around festivities are the last thing on people’s minds as they come to grip with the devastation. The usual celebrations like “pookolam” (floral carpets) and preparing feasts were missing in many rain-affected areas while comparatively subdued elsewhere.
The nature’s fury at its worst also saw the best faces of humanity as people from different religions came together to provide shelter to their brethren, with a mosque-turned-relief-camp hosting Onam celebrations in Alappuzha district.
According to the latest figures released by the state, as many as 28 bodies were recovered Saturday, pushing the toll to 293 since August 8, when the second spell of monsoon turned disastrous for the state, triggering landslides and floods. Fifteen people are still missing, the state disaster control room sources said.
The state has cancelled official Onam celebrations in view of the monsoon fury.
Yet, 5.97 lakh men, women and children in schools, colleges, convention halls, mosques and churches, which are doubling up as relief camps, got together to celebrate the festival in whichever manner they could.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed hope that the festival will give new strength to the people to overcome the adversities.
“May this Onam give further strength to the people of Kerala to overcome the adversities they have been facing for the past few days,” he posted on Twitter.
The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with Kerala..., he added.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi said this was a difficult time for the state’s people. “In relief camps & homes across the state, people are grieving for their loved ones. On this Onam let us pledge to put aside our differences, stand united together and focus on the task of #RebuildingKerala,” he tweeted.
Reflecting communal amity, more than 240 youngsters from different religious backgrounds got together to clean up a temple at Aluva near Kochi, filled with mounds of dirt and mud left by River Periyar.
At Alappuzha, among the worst hit in the second spell of rains, Onam was celebrated at a mosque.
In Kuttanad, most of which is still waterlogged, many people are still in relief camps.
In the famous Thrikakkara temple at Kochi, dedicated to Vamana, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the usual “Onam sadya” was not held this year.
Onam commemorates the return of mythical demon king Mahabali to see his beloved subjects at the beginning of ‘Chingam’, the first month of the Malayalam calendar.
As rescue operations are almost complete, government is now focussing on rehabilitation.
At least 70,000 houses have been damaged fully or partially, sources in the chief minister’s office said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a three-member UNICEF team visited relief camps in Alapuzha district and praised the administration’s efforts in maintaining cleanliness, quality of food and safety aspects, district collector S Suhas posted on Facebook.
Actors, including Mamootty and singer KS Chitra, visited various relief camps.
The Air Force has handed over a cheque for ~20 crore to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
A report from Tamil Nadu stated that 256 electricity transformers and 40,000 power meters, apart from one lakh litres of ‘Amma’ brand bottled drinking water, have been sent to the state.