Heavy rainfall continued to drench Kerala districts on Sunday, even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned districts to expect more rain till at least Tuesday.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who held a high-level meeting to discuss the weather situation, appealed to the people to remain vigilant.
Four more teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are expected to reach Kerala by Monday, the Chief Minister said. Three NDRF teams are already positioned in various districts. Two teams of the Defence Security Corps are on standby for Kannur and Wayanad districts.
Bodies recovered
A 75-year-old woman drowned in the Neyyar river in Thiruvananthapuram district. A three-year-old boy drowned in a canal at Velukkara in Thrissur district. Both their bodies have been recovered. Several districts have reported damage to property and waterlogging in low-lying areas.
Some districts have declared a holiday on Monday for educational institutions in view of the rain alert.
Water was released from the Idukki and Kakki reservoirs after water levels rose on Sunday. One shutter (No: 3) of the Cheruthoni dam was raised by 40 cm to release water from the Idukki reservoir. The water levels in all the major reservoirs are being closely monitored.
In Thiruvananthapuram district, 427 people (146 families) have been shifted to 19 relief camps opened over the past two days. Three houses were destroyed and 52 damaged in the rain havoc in the southern district.
In Alappuzha district, most of the upper Kuttanad and parts of Kuttanad remain waterlogged. Parts of the Alappuzha- Changanassery (AC) road and a number of rural roads in the region have been submerged. In all, 229 people were shifted to 13 relief camps by Sunday evening.
Water level in all the major rivers in Pathanamthitta recorded a steady rise throughout the day. High-range communities are on alert although no major incidents have been reported. The Pathanamthitta District Disaster Management Authority opened control rooms in all taluk headquarters. In Kottayam district, traffic on the Erumely-Sabarimala route was hit by major disruptions due to a heavy gush of run-off water.
Orange alert
Six central and northern districts are on orange alert for isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall (11-20 cm in 24 hours) on Monday.
The districts are Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod. The remaining districts are on yellow alert for isolated heavy rainfall. Several of the central and northern districts are on yellow alert on Tuesday also.
A cyclonic circulation lies over southeast Arabian Sea extending up to 3.1 km above mean sea level, the IMD said. A trough runs from southeast Arabian sea to southwest Bay of Bengal across north Kerala. Meanwhile, the low pressure area over the Andaman Sea is likely to become well marked by Monday and concentrate into a depression over west-central Bay of Bengal by Wednesday.
A fresh low pressure area is likely to form over eastcentral Arabian Sea off the south Maharashtra-Goa coasts around Wednesday.
