KOCHI: Shutters of four dams have been opened due to heavy rains in the catchment areas in Kerala even as three people were killed in the rain-related incidents in the state.
One death each was reported at Kannur, Pathanamthitta and Kollam districts and 8 people were reported missing from various places in the State.
The state has been witnessing incessant rains for the last four days. A red alert has been issued in five districts, Idukki, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur.
The Meteorological Centre here predicted extremely heavy rainfall of 204 mm in these districts in the next 12 hours.
The shutters of Kallakutty, Lower Periyar (Pambla), Boodathankettu, Malankara dams were opened following alarming increase in water level, sources said on Saturday.
A shutter of Kallarkutty dam was raised to 10 cm height discharging 10 cusecs of water per second.
One of the shutters of Pambla dam was raised to 15 cm height releasing 15 cusecs of water per second.
Nine shutters of Boodathankettu dam and two shutters of Malankara dam were opened.
The shutters of Malankara dam were raised to 30 cm height.
Following the opening of shutters, a warning has been issued to the people residing on the banks of Periyar river and Muvattupuzha river.
However, the water level of Idukki dam stands at 2304.4 ft as against 2380.42 ft during the same period in the previous year.
Three fishermen hailing from Kanyakumari were missing from Neendakara in Kollam from where they went for fishing on Friday morning.
Another four fishermen were reported missing from Vizhinjam after they venture into the sea for fishing on Thursday.
The Navy was pressed into the service for tracing the missing people.
A person was reported missing from Kidangur in Kottayam district after he tried to collect tree trunks from Meenachil river.
An alert was issued in Pathanamthitta district where control rooms have been opened in seven taluks due to incessant rains causing rise of water levels in many rivers including Pamba, Meenachil and Manimala.
A ban on all kinds of mining was imposed in Kottayam district for the next three days.