As heavy rains lash Kerala, red alert in many districts sounded, 6 dead

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Heavy rains lashing Kerala have claimed six lives till date and red alerts have been issued in several districts of the State for the coming days, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday. Giving details of the steps taken by the State administration to prevent any loss of life, Vijayan told reporters here that learning from the past experiences, especially the floods in 2018, precautionary measures have been taken. Five houses have been completely destroyed and 55 partially damaged in the rains.

He further said six people died and one person is reported missing.

IMD issued red alerts for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Idukki districts for the day and August 2, he said and added that red alert has been issued in 11 districts for August 3 and in 9 of them for August 4.

The Chief Minister said a State Emergency Operations Centre of the Disaster Management Authority has been set up and control rooms would be opened in all districts and taluks. Besides, four teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in Idukki, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Thrissur districts and another four teams would shortly arrive in the State and be deployed in Ernakulam, Kottayam, Kollam and Malappuram districts, he said.

He said if the heavy rains continue during the coming days, the State would be in a crisis and to prevent it, water was being released from around 17 dams. Meanwhile, data on the daily water-levels of the dams operated by KSEB (Kerala State Electricity Board) indicate that water-levels in five Idukki dams -- Ponmudi, Kundala, Kallarkutty, Erattayar and Lower Periyar -- have reached the red alert storage levels. He said the Dam Management Committee under the chairmanship of the Additional Chief Secretary has assessed water level in the dams and there was no cause for concern at present.

In view of these and in anticipation of potential disasters such as landslides, mountain floods, flashfloods, waterlogging in cities and low-lying areas, preparations are required in areas where extremely heavy rainfall is expected and also in places adjoining them, he told reporters.