Hundreds evacuated as rain continues in Kerala, 3 more die
IMD issues red alerts in 3 districts; water level in Idukki dam approaching full capacity; CM urges people to be vigilant
Heavy rains and floods have let a trail of destruction in Kerala prompting the authorities to shit hundreds of families living in vulnerable areas to temporary shelters.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who held an emergency meeting with district collectors, asked people to be vigilant for the next three days.
The national weather forecasters Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued red alerts for extremely adverse conditions in Thrissur, Ernakulam and Idukki districts.
It sounded an orange alert for Trivandrum, Kollam, Pathanamthita, Alappuzha, Kotayam, Kozhikode, Kasaragod and Kannur for similar conditions of less intensity.
Rest of the districts - Wayanad, Malappuram and Palakkad - carry a yellow alert warning of the possibility of heavy rains, strong surface winds, squall, thunder and lightning.
A Red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rains of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while Orange alert denotes very heavy rains from 6cm to 20cm of rains.
A yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 to 11cm.
The authorities have opened 66 relief camps across the state accommodating 5,538 people, including women and children, from 1,720 families.
The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) reported three more deaths, including drowning of a three-year-old boy in the northern district of Kannur.
With this, the number of deaths since the outbreak of the northeast monsoon and the landslides due to a mini cloudburst before that last month has risen to 69.
The SDMA said the rains and floods have washed away 385 homes and damaged another 2205.
Control rooms working throughout the day and night are functioning in all districts.
Cheruthoni dam in the Idukki reservoir, the biggest in Kerala, opened its shuters releasing 40,000 to 50,000 cubic feet of water a second downstream.
Water level has reached the red alert level in various dams in Kerala due to the incessant rains causing minor landslides and disruption of train services in some parts in the state.
The water level in the Idukki reservoir, billed as the highest arch dam in Asia, had risen to 2398.80 feet on Sunday approaching its full capacity of 2,403 feet.
The water level in the 126-year-old Mullaperiyar dam upstream, which the neighbouring Tamil Nadu state operates on a 999-year-lease, has also crossed 140 t.
The disputed dam’s water level allowed by the Supreme Court is 142 feet and it will release water into the Idukki dam if it continues to rise.
A panel headed by a Central Water Commission member with representatives of the two warring states is now overseeing the repair works and safety measures of Mullaperiyar.
Tamil Nadu maintains that the masonry gravity dam made of lime and surkhi was repaired in 1979 and it was safe as underlined by an Sc-appointed empowered commitee.
The panel had concluded that there was enough evidence to show that the dam was “structurally, hydrologically and seismically safe” for raising the water level.
The water level in various places along the River Periyar downstream was rising during the heavy rains in the morning.
The Idukki district administration said people living on both sides of the Periyar should be extra vigilant and there was a possibility of flooding.
The district administration of Pathanamthita also advised extreme caution, especially by those living close to river banks and landslide prone areas.
The National Disaster Response Force has deployed three teams in the state and four more teams will join them on Monday. Military forces are also on the standby.
Many areas of the state capital here remained inundated for the third day on Sunday while some roads were blocked in parts of the nearby Kollam district.
Strong westerly winds and a cyclonic circulation have been formed over the southeastern region of the Arabian sea. Currently, Kerala is witnessing a spell of heavy rains similar to what Tamil Nadu experienced last week.