Toll shoots over 300, SC seeks report from state
The Supreme Court on Friday asked two crisis management panels to explore the possibility of reducing the water level at the Mullaperiyar Dam in Kerala by three feet to deal with the devastating floods in the state, and asked Tamil Nadu to “scrupulously obey” any decision taken on the issue, even as death toll in the state rose to 324, according to a tweet by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Emphasising that the flood situation needed to be dealt with “focus, concentration and efficiency”, the top court said it was not an expert to deal with such unprecedented natural calamity and was leaving it to the executive to tackle the situation.
It asked the National Crisis Management Committee and another committee that was set up by the top court in 2014 to manage and look after the safety and security of the dam, to coordinate with each other and explore the possibility of reducing the water
NEWDELHI:
level from the existing 142 feet to 139 feet.
The Mullaperiyar dam is located on the Western Ghats near Thekkady in Idukki district of Kerala on the Periyar river.
As many as 868 people have lost their lives, 247 of them in Kerala, due to rains, floods and landslides in seven states during the monsoon season so far, the home ministry said on Friday.
According to the National Emergency Response Centre, 2.11 lakh people in 14 districts of Kerala have been badly hit by the rains and floods and over 32,500 hectares of crops damaged.
As many as 191 people have died in Uttar Pradesh, 183 people in West Bengal, 139 in Maharashtra, 52 in Gujarat, 45 in Assam and 11 in Nagaland.