Incessant downpour almost submerged the entire Ranni taluk in Pathanamthitta district as the Pampa, Kallar and Kakkattar rivers overflowed. There are thirteen wards in Ranni taluk. One of the most affected areas was Thottamon in Ranni which is surrounded by the Pampa river. As it is situated on the banks of river the entire area was submerged in water upto 50 feet for five days. For fifteen days all the people stayed in camps. All the wells in the area were filled with mud and dirt. And some wells could not be traced. After the water receded, the entire area and houses were filled with mud up to about 3 feet; there were snakes, centipedes and scorpions inside homes and wells. People were not able to do the cleaning activity as they were confused about how to start and from where to start.
In this troublesome situation, twenty Don Bosco Brothers from Kristu Jyothi College, Bangalore came to the rescue of the people in Thottamon with their cleaning mission. The cleaning up mission was organized from 2nd to 7th September 2018 under the leadership of Fr. Tony Plavilayil SDB, from DB Trivandrum. Local elected members and Anganwadi teachers helped them to identify the most affected and deserving houses. They managed to clean 40 houses and distributed utensils to 44 houses. 149 mattresses were distributed to the flood affected in Thottamon. Gum boots, face masks, hand gloves, chlorine tablets and bleaching powder were also distributed to the people. On the concluding day, a public function was organized by the local people in the presence of Mr. Raju Abraham, MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly), to felicitate and appreciate the initiative of Fr. Tony Plavilayil SDB and the Brothers from Kristu Jyoti College, Bangalore. BREADS Bangalore supported the cleaning up mission as part of its #RebuildKerala campaign.
