THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A low-pressure trough over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal resulted in heavy rain across the state on Friday. No casualties were reported. Waterlogging affected over 100 hectares of paddy crop in Kuttanad, while widespread power disruption was reported. Floodwaters entered around 30 houses in Kochi city.
IMD said its expects heavy rains to last till Sunday. It issued yellow alerts for all districts, except Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam, on Saturday and cautioned fishermen against venturing out into sea.
In Thiruvananthapuram, normal life was thrown out of gear. Though many parts witnessed flash flooding, no calamities were reported. In Pathanamthitta, dams are filled to half their capacity.
In Idukki, a tree was uprooted at Gap Road near Munnar. Peermade taluk recorded the highest rainfall — 62 mm — followed by Thodupuzha (40 mm) over the last 24 hours. The water level in Idukki dam touched 2,339.02 ft, against the full-reservoir level of 2,403 ft. The present water level is only 36% of its total storage. A total of 3.47 cumecs of water is being discharged from the dam.
Waterlogging, traffic snarls and power disruption were reported in Ernakulam. Floodwaters entered around 30 houses at Kochi’s Vivekananda Road. Tree branches falling on power lines resulted in outages. A tree was left uprooted in Aluva on Thursday night.
Mining and quarrying activities have been temporarily halted. As the sea turned rough and high tidal waves started lashing the coast, the disaster management authority directed the evacuation of people staying in coastal villages.
Over 100 hectares of the Devaswom Varambinakom paddy polder, under the Edathua agriculture office, in upper Kuttanad, are under water.
Many low-lying areas in the region were also affected. The district administration opened relief camps in various taluks. A directive was issued to tahsildars to identify buildings to shift people, in case of emergency.
MINING ACTIVITIES HALTED
Mining and quarrying activities have been temporarily halted. As the sea turned rough and high tidal waves started lashing the coast, the disaster management authority directed the evacuation of people staying in coastal villages.
HEALTH ADVISORY ISSUED
T’Puram: Health Minister Veena George said on Friday that the health department has issued a warning in view of the continued heavy rains in the state. Alerts have also been issued to hospitals in the wake of rise in contagious fever cases, she said. She directed the health officials to make necessary alternative arrangements in flooded health facilities. The minister also said that three mobile floating dispensaries and a water ambulance have been set up in Kuttanad to deal with the emergency situation. “If the rain continues, dengue and rabies are likely. Action should be taken to destroy the sources of mosquitoes. Rabies prevention is also important,” the minister said.