Kodagu IAS Officer Led Rescue Missions Even as Her 4-YO Son Lived in a Relief Camp!

"Believe me, I didn't know his place was that badly affected. Neither did he know anything about the Kodagu floods. We were both cut off at that time,"

Kodagu IAS Officer Led Rescue Missions Even as Her 4-YO Son Lived in a Relief Camp!

Last month, as heavy rains ravaged Kerala and parts of Karnataka, many authority figures put into place heroic rescue missions and efficient systems to tackle the menace and shield the citizens from harm.

IAS officer PI Sreevidya, who is the Deputy Commissioner of Kodagu, was among them.

Relatively new to the job—she had assumed her position only eight months before the unfortunate situation in Kodagu—she received a call on August 12 informing her that the district would soon receive “very heavy and unusual rains.” While scepticism about the authenticity of the warning could have been justified, Sreevidya was not one to take a chance, and immediately got to work.

Since Kodagu is a hilly district and prone to landslides, Sreevidya realised urgent action was needed to save its residents.

Source: Twitter/ DCKodagu.

It took her less than a day to bring a system into place and from thereon, she led the rescue operations which involved informing citizens, getting them to vacate their homes, and bringing them to rescue camps, among other activities.

The IAS officer had also opened a control room near her office so she could coordinate relief operations. Sreevidya was not alone—she had the support of various MLAs, the district police chief, people’s representative and social workers. Together, they formed a formidable team that could carry out rescue and relief operations smoothly.


GiveIndia and The Better India have come together to help Rebuild Kerala by supporting 41,000 affected families. You too can be a part of this movement and help us raise funds for the NGOs working to rehabilitate these families. If all of us come together with a small monthly contribution, we can make a real and meaningful difference in helping restore normalcy to those who need our help the most.

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Speaking to OnManorama, Sreevidya said, “All these ensured that we could minimise the loss to property and the impact on public life.”

Even as Sreevidya was holding the fort with respect to work, the rest of her family was caught in the midst of the crisis. Her husband, T Narayanan, is the police chief of Pathanamthitta, which was one of the worst-affected districts during the Kerala floods.

Diligently working towards overcoming the disastrous situation in their respective areas, the couple could not contact each other for several days.

Source: Twitter/ DCKodagu.

Additionally, her four-year-old son was also living in a camp with his grandparents.

“Believe me, I didn’t know his place was that badly affected. Neither did he know anything about the Kodagu floods. We were both cut off at that time,” she said.

By 20 August, thousands of people were safe in camps, and all the relief material directed towards Kodagu was collected at Madikeri and later distributed to relief camps by various Panchayats.

Even as the locals were being rescued, tourists, who were unaware of the situation were still coming in, which was increasing the load of the district administration in terms of logistics and rescue operations. So, Sreevidya banned tourists from coming in for about a month, and the ban was lifted only after the floodwaters receded.

Sreevidya’s prompt initiatives have been widely praised by authorities and ordinary citizens, especially on social media.


GiveIndia and The Better India have come together to help Rebuild Kerala by supporting 41,000 affected families. You too can be a part of this movement and help us raise funds for the NGOs working to rehabilitate these families. If all of us come together with a small monthly contribution, we can make a real and meaningful difference in helping restore normalcy to those who need our help the most.

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(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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