PATHANAMTHITTA: Torrential overnight rain triggered widespread flooding across Pathanamthitta district on Saturday, inundating low-lying areas, disrupting road connectivity and prompting large-scale rescue operations, with more than 500 people shifted to safety.
The Pampa river breached its banks at several locations, submerging parts of Ranni, Aranmula, Kozhencherry and Cherukolpuzha, while the Achankovil and Kakkattar rivers also crossed the danger mark. The flooding forced authorities to cancel the palliyodam (snake boat) procession connected with the Aranmula Vallasadya and prohibit all boating activities in the rivers except for rescue operations.
The district received intermittent rain through Friday before the downpour intensified overnight. Nearly 300 mm of rainfall was recorded in the Sabarimala forest catchments, while Vadasserikkara recorded 339 mm in the 24 hours ending Saturday morning. The heavy rain triggered landslides and soil slips in high-range areas, including Thannithodu, Kokkathode and Chittar, though no casualties were reported.
Major roads across the district were inundated after rivers swelled rapidly. The Arayanjilimannu causeway across the Pampa went underwater, while traffic was also disrupted at Attachackal after the Achankovil river overflowed. A landslip at Kanamala Attivalavu on the Sabarimala route further affected traffic movement.
Fire and Rescue Services, police and NDRF personnel carried out rescue operations across the district. According to Fire and Rescue officials, around 80 personnel, including scuba teams from fire stations in Ranni, Pathanamthitta, Konni, Tiruvalla, Sasthamkotta, Karunagappally, Kundara and Thakazhy, were deployed. Six rubber dinghies were pressed into service in Ranni, Aranmula and Kozhencherry, rescuing 504 people and shifting them to safer locations.
Additional rescue teams with rubber boats and scuba personnel arrived from Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday evening and were deployed to Aranmula. More rescue teams with boats from Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad are expected to join operations on Sunday.
As of Saturday evening, 22 relief camps had been opened across the district, sheltering 567 people. The camps include one in Konni taluk, two each in Ranni and Thiruvalla, four in Kozhencherry and 13 in Mallappally.
Authorities have warned that the flood situation could worsen if heavy rain continued and urged people living along riverbanks and in low-lying areas to move to relief camps without delay.