THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Heavy rain lashing the state over the last few days claimed seven lives on Satur - day, taking the overall death toll in monsoon rain-related incidents to 103. While four deaths were reported till Satur - day morning, three more were reported in the afternoon, di - saster management officials said. Heavy rain destroyed 16 houses and caused partial dam - age to 89 others on Saturday, with the total loss estimated at Rs 61.59 lakh.
Crops spread over an area of 356.38 hectares were destroyed causing a loss of Rs Rs 7.63 crore. In the wake of heavy rain, 27 relief camps have been opened across the state - 14 in Thiru - vananthapuram, five in Wayanad, four in Kollam, and two each in Pathanamthitta and Kottayam. The National Disaster Response Force per - sonnel have been told to be on standby and will be deployed in case the need arises, disaster management officials said. District Collectors in most of the districts have asked emer - gency response teams to be on alert following an advisory from the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority about possible landslides and floods.
On Saturday, very heavy rain - fall of 18 cm was reported from Punalur (Kollam), Ponnani (Malappuram) and Kuruda - mannil (Pathanamthitta). Ary - ankavu (Kollam) and Ko - zhikode recorded 17 cm of rain. Due to incessant heavy rain of up to 10 cm in Thiruvanan - thapuram district, houses in low-lying areas were totally submerged in water. ‘’Shutters of Aruvikkara and Peppara dams have been opened as a precautionary measure. Emergency teams are on standby and there is no cause for panic,” said P B Push - palata, Deputy Collector (Di - saster Management), Thiru - vananthapuram. In Kozhikode district, one person died and around 120 houses remained submerged in the heavy downpour. While eight houses were damaged; one was fully destroyed.
In Kottayam, water levels in Meenachil and Kodoor rose, inundating several houses in the low-lying areas of the dis - trict. A 30-metre stretch of road was destroyed in the land - slip on the Vaikom-Vechoor route. Flash floods were re - ported from Thekkekara and Manackachira areas on the Alappuzha-Changanassery Highway. In Kollam, relief camps have been opened across seven villages and 363 families were shifted to these camps. The Idukki dam’s catchment area received 4.56 cm of rain - fall on Saturday and the water level in the dam stood at 2,361.90 ft against its full level of 2,403 ft. Water level in Mul - laperiyar dam was at 123.90 ft against its permissible level of 142 ft. While 15 acres of paddy field under ‘pokkali’ farming was destroyed in Ezhupunna panchayat in Alappuzha, a mi - nor landslide engulfed four acres of agricultural land, three houses and a road at Puthuk - kad in Palakkad. Forecast: The Meteorologi - cal Department has forecast heavy rainfall in many parts of the state till Tuesday morning