Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday and extended support to the State battling a flood and rain havoc situation.
In a Facebook post, Mr. Vijayan said Mr. Modi had telephoned him and sought the details of the situation. Mr. Modi also said the Centre would offer necessary assistance to the State to tide over the crisis.
Mr. Vijayan said National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams had been deployed in Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Malappuram districts. More NDRF teams were headed for Idukki, Kottayam, Kollam, Kannur and Palakkad.
The Army has been deployed in Thiruvananthapuram and Kottayam. It has mobilised a unit of the Engineering Task Force (ETF) from the Dakshin Bharath Area jurisdictional headquarters in Bengaluru for deployment in landslip-ravaged Mundakkayam in Kottayam.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has flown in two helicopters from the Sulur airbase in Coimbatore for rescue operations from the Thiruvananthapuram Air Force Station. The Defence Security Core (DSC) has positioned at least one team in Kozhikode for rapid marshalling.
Mr. Vijayan said the IAF had conducted pre-airlifting sorties over Mallappally in Kottayam. Landslips had impeded access to the area. He said airlifting was the only recourse available to shift residents to safer ground from flood-ravaged Mallappally.
A Navy helicopter distributed food packets at Kuttickal in Kottayam and Kokkayar in Idukki. In Kavali, the Army helped retrieve the bodies of three residents swept away by floodwaters. It also salvaged valuable items, including gold ornaments, from disaster spots and handed them over to the local administration.
Mr. Vijayan held a meeting with top revenue, police, disaster management and defence officials to review the flood situation. The administration has set up a control room for coordinating government efforts at the Secretariat.
Fishing banned
The government has banned fishing off the coast of Kerala, and the Karnataka and Lakshadweep administrations have also done the same.
A red alert situation prevailed in Kerala State Electricity Board’s Kakki, Sholayar, Peringalkuthu, Kundala, Kallarkutty, Mattupetty and Kallar dams. The inflow from the catchment area into the reservoirs continued unabated.
A relatively less intense blue alert condition prevailed in Ponmudi and Pampa dams. An orange alert situation prevailed in Irrigation Department’s Chulliyar, Peechi, Vazhani, Chimmini, Meenkara, Mangalam and Malampuzha reservoirs. Blue alert status prevailed in Pothundi dam in Palakkad and Neyyar in Thiruvananthapuram.
