Two children die in sleep as wall collapses in rain
The Hindu
Floods force evacuation of families
Two children were killed when a portion of their house came crashing on them in heavy rain at Karipur near Kondotty on Tuesday morning.
The tragedy took place at Mundottupadam, Karipur, at 5.15 a.m. when a mudslide occurred from a hillock behind their house, causing the wall of the bedroom in which the children were sleeping to collapse. The victims were identified as Diyana Fatima, 7, and Lubana Fatima, six months old, daughters of Aboobacker Siddik and Sumayya.
Local people came running for help, extricated the children from under the rubble, and rushed them to the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode. However, they could not be saved.
More than 2.6 lakh village and ward volunteers in Andhra Pradesh, once celebrated as the government’s grassroots champions for their crucial role in implementing welfare schemes, are now in a dilemma after learning that their tenure has not been renewed after August 2023 even though they have been paid honoraria till June 2024. Disowned by both YSRCP, which was in power when they were appointed, and the current ruling TDP, which made a poll promise to double their pay, these former volunteers are ruing the day they signed up for the role which they don’t know if even still exists