Kochi water tank collapse: Tremors, shocks, and soaked dreams as Thammanam residents reel from sudden flooding

When a abrupt tremor-like jolt and a bedewed level startled Rahul Raghunath, 32, from his slumber astir 2:30 a.m. connected Monday (November 10, 2025), for a fleeting infinitesimal helium feared whether “the Mullaperiyar dam has burst.”

Still gripped by fearfulness and half-asleep, helium was jolted afloat awake. Thankfully, helium had the beingness of caput to power disconnected a soaked hold cord lying connected the floor. He rushed outside, lone to find his neighbourhood flooded.

“I was near wondering whether this was the watery sedate everyone has been informing astir for years. After getting implicit that scare, I started reasoning whether I had forgotten to power disconnected the centrifugal the erstwhile night, causing an overflow,” recalls Rahul, a freelance video exertion surviving successful a rented location connected Kulathingal Bava Road successful the Thammanam part of Kochi Corporation. He says helium mislaid his computer, worthy astir ₹1 lakh, successful the incident.

A flood-like concern unfolded aft a monolithic magnitude of h2o gushed retired pursuing a breach successful the Kerala Water Authority’s (KWA) over-four-decade-old h2o retention vessel successful Thammanam, inundating the contiguous neighbourhood and affecting much than 20 houses.

Rahul’s nephews, Aadhi Krishna, 9, and Adhithi Krishna, 11, who were sleeping connected the level successful their mother’s room, besides woke up drenched. “The country was afloat of h2o and my feet were submerged,” says Aadhi, taking a interruption from cleaning the location to stock her experience.

The location of Judith George, 63, a nonmigratory of the country since 1956, located close adjacent to the h2o tank, bore the brunt of the impact. The compound partition had collapsed and been washed away. A car belonging to her tenant parked extracurricular the partition was partially crushed nether the debris. Two-wheelers laic soaked successful mud, and a impermanent shed had been uprooted, with the h2o centrifugal flung outside.

‘A h2o bomb’

She was sleeping connected the archetypal level on with her joined girl and grandchildren erstwhile what she describes arsenic a “water bomb” hit. “In the past, our compound partition was destroyed doubly owed to overflows from the tank, but the harm was ne'er this severe. Refrigerator, washing machine, inverter, furniture, everything is gone,” she laments.

Kairali Appukuttan, 65, experienced h2o gushing into her location astatine the acold extremity of Kulathingal Bava Road. She woke up successful the mediate of the nighttime to usage the washroom and slipped her feet onto the level — lone to find them instantly soaked. “There was a dependable arsenic if an earthquake had struck. We tried to unreserved extracurricular but couldn’t unfastened the doorway initially owed to the unit of the h2o against it,” she recalls.

Outside, her husband’s autorickshaw — precocious serviced astatine a outgo of astir ₹12,000 up of Monday’s fittingness trial — stood damaged.

The Urban Family Healthcare Centre astatine Kuthapady successful the neighbourhood was besides flooded. “As per archetypal assessment, we mislaid medicines and equipment, and suffered harm worthy astir ₹4 lakh to ₹5 lakh,” says Dr. Ann Joseph.

P.V. Sajeevan walked astir his autorickshaw, which had been parked other the centre and present laic submerged. “The engine’s damaged. This was my lone means of livelihood,” helium says.