Heavy rains lash Kerala, orange alert in 10 districts

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 21: Heavy rains continued to lash Kerala on Monday with the IMD issuing an orange alert for 10 districts after a low pressure area had formed over the North East Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood.

The districts of Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod have been issued Orange alert. The Kundala, Kallarkutti, Malankara and Ponmudi dam shutters have been opened resulting in water rise in Periyar, Muthirapuzha and Muvattupuzha rivers.

"There was one death reported from Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. The death occured after the person came in contact with a live electric wire which got snapped due to heavy rain and wind," a State Disaster Management Authority official told P T I.

"We have also received information about one death from Kasaragod on Monday morning, but yet to receive the details officially," the official added.

A weather bulletin said that a low pressure area has formed over Northeast Bay of Bengal and neighborhood on Sunday morning and is likely to move west-northwest during the next 2-3 days. The Idukki reservoir is at 80 per cent of its storage capacity as on Monday morning, district officials said.

Hosdurg in Kasaragod received 9 cm of rainfall, as per the latest bulletin on the IMD website, while Vythiri in Wayanad district received 9.4 cm, Munnar and Peerumedu in Idukki received over 7 cm of rain, while Nedumangadu in Thiruvananthapuram also received 7 cms of rain. At least eight houses have been destroyed in yesterday's rain in Kasaragod district.

The state has received an average of 7 cm of rainfall in the last24 hours. TheIMD had issued a red alert for Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts for Sunday. A red alert is sounded for rainfall of over 20 cm while an orange alert is for 6 cm to 20 cm of rain.

Three units of the National Disaster Response Force have reached Kerala on Sunday and have been deployed in Wayanad,Malappuram and Thrissur districts Already there are two teams in Idukki and Kozhikode districts.

Fishermen have been warned not to put out to sea as strong winds with speed reaching 45-55 kmph are likely to prevail along and off Kerala, Karnataka coasts and over Lakshadweep area. A landslide triggered by heavy rains in the hilly district of Idukki on August 7 had flattened a row of dwelling units of tea estate workers at Pettimudi in Rajamalai claiming 66 lives.