The IMD had also issued a red alert for August 3 in the same 10 districts. (file)
Thiruvananthapuram:
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday issued a red alert in 10 districts of the southern state amid reports of landslides and rise in river water level in various parts of the state amid incessant rains in Kerala.
The IMD had also issued a red alert for August 3 in the same 10 districts.
According to the IMD district’s rain forecast issued for Kerala at 10 am on Tuesday, a red alert was sounded in all the districts of the state except Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Kasaragod, where an orange alert was issued for August 2 and 3. Is.
In view of the red alert issued by the IMD, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that people should be very careful and everyone should be ready to strictly follow the warnings issued by the Disaster Management Authority.
In a Facebook post, the Chief Minister said that the warning of very heavy rain in Kerala in the coming days should be taken very seriously as incessant rains of more than 200 mm are likely to cause distress.
He said that there is a need for vigilance and preparedness in the state to deal with natural calamities like landslides, hill floods, flash floods and water logging in cities and low-lying areas.
Chief Minister Vijayan also said that the Central Water Commission has issued warnings regarding the water level of various rivers like Pampa, Manimala and Neyyar crossing the danger mark at many places.
He said that the commission has also warned that the water level of rivers like Achankovil, Kaliyar, Thodupuzha and Meenachil is also rising and hence, the people living on the banks of all these rivers should be alert and take steps to relocate them. are going. in safe places.
He has requested everyone not to hesitate to move and follow the instructions of the authorities.
He further said in the post, that the State Emergency Operations Center of the Disaster Management Authority was functioning as the State Level Control Room with representatives from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Rescue Forces and other relevant departments and control rooms. have also been established in all districts and taluks.
Apart from this, nine teams of NDRF have been deployed in nine districts of the state, including two units of Defense Security Corps in Kannur and Palakkad districts and one Army contingent in Thiruvananthapuram district.
He said that there is a possibility of strong winds with rain, steps should be taken on war footing to avoid accidents due to collapse of power lines, poles, trees and hoardings. The disaster prone areas are well prepared to deal with landslides and flash floods in hilly areas.
The Chief Minister said that restrictions on travel in hilly areas and water bodies, avoiding night travel and advising fishermen not to venture into the sea in view of the possibility of strong winds and strong waves are some of the other instructions issued by the State Government. . ,
The CPI(M) state secretariat said in a release that it has asked all its workers to join the relief and rescue operations in the state.
A release said that the Pathanamthitta collector has been tasked to take appropriate steps to ensure that the Niraputhri festival, which marks the beginning of the harvest season, and works related to Aranmula Vallasadhya at Sabarimala are not disrupted.
The IMD has warned of heavy and very heavy rain at isolated places over the state till August 5.
Incessant rains led to landslides at several places in Kannur district on Monday night, killing two people – a 45-year-old man and a two-and-a-half-year-old girl – and another 55-year-old man. Still missing, district officials said in a release.
In Kottayam, the body of a man who had gone missing a day earlier was recovered from Kuttikkal Chhapat area of the district on Tuesday morning, the emergency operations center there said.
The daily water-level data of dams operated by the KSEB (Kerala State Electricity Board) indicates that the water levels in five Idukki dams – Ponmudi, Kundala, Kallarkutty, Iretyar and Lower Periyar – as well as the Mujiyar and Poringalkuthu dams in Pathanamthitta and Thrissur The Red Alert has reached the storage level, respectively.
According to data on the website of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), two irrigation department reservoirs in Palakkad – Meenkara and Mangalam – reached Orange Alert storage level on Tuesday due to heavy rains.
Ernakulam district officials also said that an emergency action committee of local bodies would be constituted to take steps to prevent waterlogging in Kochi city and to oversee the rescue and evacuation operations.
Meanwhile, the Indian Coast Guard also stepped in to assist in the search and rescue operations.
As heavy rains continued, 47 relief camps have been opened in various districts of the state after heavy rains and 757 people have been shifted there.
The CM said the camps should follow the COVID-19 norms and have special facilities for pregnant women, lactating mothers and persons with special needs.
In Thrissur, the water level of the Chalakudy river rose by about 5 meters at around 2 am on Tuesday after the district administration advised people living in the low-lying areas of the river to move to safer places due to heavy rains.
Red alert indicates heavy to very heavy rainfall of more than 20 cms in 24 hours, while orange alert means very heavy rain ranging from 6 cms to 20 cms of rain. Yellow alert means heavy rain between 6 to 11 cms.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)