Kerala rains: Red alert sounded in four districts

Low pressure area in Bay of Bengal to result in heavy rainfall in State

KOCHI; Kerala; 19/09/2020: Police personnel use their shileds as umbrellas as heavy rain lashes Kochi on Saturday. Photo : Thulasi Kakkat/The Hindu

Idukki, Malappuram, Kannur and Kasaragod have been put on red alert on Sunday with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting the possibility of extremely heavy rainfall (in excess of 20.4 cm in a 24-hour period) in the four districts.

Six other districts - Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Wayanad - are on orange alert for isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall. Southern districts Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram are on yellow alert.

For Monday, orange alerts have been issued for ten districts - Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod.

Meanwhile, the State government has made arrangements to tackle rain-related emergencies. More teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in various districts in view of the development. The armed forces and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) unit in the State also are on standby, according to the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA). The Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) units in the State will be deployed if needed.

Two NDRF teams which were in Thrissur district have been deployed in Kozhikode and Idukki districts. Three more teams, summoned from Arakkonam, are being positioned in Wayanad, Malappuram and Thrissur.

The Defence Service Corps (DSC) based in Kannur is on standby for handling emergencies in that district and Kasaragod as both districts are on red alert, KSDMA member secretary Sekhar L. Kuriakose said. Additionally, IAF helicopters are on standby in Thiruvananthapuram and Coimbatore.

Steps have been initiated to evacuate people residing in landslide and landslip-prone areas and to temporarily ban night-time travel to hilly regions.

The IMD Meteorological Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, had forecast a spike in southwest monsoon rainfall activity under the influence of a low pressure area expected to take shape in the Bay of Bengal region by Sunday. The low pressure area is likely to become more marked over the northwest part of the Bay during the subsequent 24 hours, Centre director K. Santhosh said.

As strong winds are expected along the Kerala, Karnataka and Lakshadweep coasts, fishermen have been advised not to venture out to sea till Monday.