Indian rowing coach's home flooded as team strikes gold

Alappuzha: The Indian rowing team on Saturday reaped gold at the Asian Games in Jakarta, but its coach was in no mood for celebration. Saji Thomas had to be worried as his ancestral home in Kuttanad was inundated and his family was forced to desert it.

Saji, of Parayanattuthara family in Chembumpuram, Nedumudi, had trained the team that won two bronze medals too on top of a gold.

Saji's mother Claramma Thomas, and brother Sibi Thomas and his family moved to Alappuzha where Saji had bought a house in Kaithavana area. The elderly mother and others were taken there in a mechanised country boat.

The construction of Saji's house is still not over, but it has become a shelter for many from Chembumpuram, which is still under flood waters.

Some family members have found shelter at the house of Saji's wife Asha in Arunoottimangalam, Mavelikkara.

Saji wrote from Jakarta: “I reached here on August 13. The flood brought misery to Kerala two days later. I was sitting awake through the night too and making calls to get information about them and to shift them to safety. I was relieved only after I was told they moved to Alappuzha. The flood waters haven't receded yet. Authorities have to turn their attention to this location too.”

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