Kerala floods: Mumbai families fret as stranded kith and kin still unreachable

MUMBAI: Some city families whose close relatives and friends stay in Kerala or were travelling there are having sleepless nights with no knowledge of their whereabouts and well-being. Till two days ago, the Dahisar Malayaleee Samajam was in distress as it could not get in touch with two families, who are part of the group."It was only on Friday that a contact was established. They have been rescued," said Jyothish Prasad, a member. Suresh Kumar, an office-bearer of Badlapur Malayalee Samajam, said five city families are yet to be rescued. "There are children and elderly members in the families," he said.Panvel resident Ashok Kumar and his wife Anu have still not succeeded in contacting their uncle N K Gopinathan (75) and his family who are stuck in their house in Chengannur. Anu said her parents-Raghavan (72) and Poonamma (70), residents of Kutoor, managed to get to the terrace and have been stuck there for four days. "There is no medical aid; yesterday some food was air-dropped," said Anu. "There is no power and light there since a week and we cannot contact our parents and relatives," said Binu Nair, a Nerul resident. Binu's parents too live in Chenganuur. His brother Biju and his wife's family in Aranmula in Pattanamthitta district too spent four days on terrace as their houses were submerged. "They were evacuated on Saturday," he said. Kharghar resident Ravi Thodupuza who left for Kerala on August 7 to meet his father Ramakrishnan is stuck midway as there is no transport available.On Sunday, the state despatched a consignment of 30 tonnes of relief material on an IAF cargo aircraft.