As many as 24 persons lost their lives in various rain-related incidents in Kerala on Wednesday, taking the toll in the latest monsoon spell to 64 since August 8.
Twelve people were buried alive in two separate landslips that followed incessant rains in Malappuram on Wednesday.
While nine persons were buried under a huge mass of soil at Peringavu near Vazhayur in the afternoon, three members of a family died in sleep when their house caved in at Kaithakunda near Pulikkal in the early hours.
Within hours, another tragedy struck at Peringavu, less than 10 km from Pulikkal. Nine people, including five of a family, were buried under a huge chunk of a broken hill that fell on them. A joint rescue team led by the Army personnel recovered the bodies of the victims after removing a huge layer of mud.
Central Kerala and the northern districts were a picture of devastation on Wednesday with the heavy monsoon rains inundating vast tracts of land. Swollen rivers breached banks and tore through settlements and farmlands. Widespread crop damage was reported across the State.
Munnar town in Idukki and Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta were cut off by raging floodwaters. On a request for help from the State Government, the Centre despatched Army units in three Air Force planes to Kerala to help the civilian administration tackle the crisis.
As emergency services toiled hard to rescue residents from flooded colonies, rescue teams, aided by mechanised equipment, were busy through the day sifting through landslips to bring out survivors.
The government has issued a red alert for Wayanad, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kasaragod, Malappuram, Palakkad, Idukki and Ernakulam districts on Thursday after the weather office warned of heavy rainfall.
A holiday has been declared for educational institutions in 10 districts and all public examinations have been postponed.
Munnar was isolated by landslips and the surging waters from the Mattupetty dam fed by copious rains in the catchment areas. The water level in the Idamalayar dam also crossed the full reservoir level while that in the Idukki dam crossed the 2398 ft mark.
People along both banks of the Periyar river were shifted to safer places after the water level rose by more than 1.5 metres on Tuesday.
The shutters of the Pampa, Kakki and Anathode dams were also raised to increase the discharge and stabilise the water level in the reservoirs.
Train services suspended
The Southern Railway had to suspend train services on the Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil route following a landslip at Eraniel and that between Kollam-Shencottah. Train services on other routes were also regulated due to flooding of tracks. Landslips and flooding disrupted road traffic along the Kozhikode-Mysore route as well.
The current spell of rains is attributed to a depression over coastal Odisha which developed on Wednesday morning.
