Kerala: Low-lying areas of Alappuzha district flooded after heavy rains

Alappuzha (Kerala) [India], July 6 : The low-lying areas of the Alappuzha district were flooded after continuous rains for the last three days and overflowing of Manimala, Achankovil and Pamba rivers.

After continuous heavy rain for the last three days in the Alappuzha district, the Manimala, Achankovil and Pamba rivers are overflowing. The low-lying areas of the Alappuzha district were waterlogged.

The rainwater entered inside the houses and a large number of families were shifted to relief camps opened by district authorities. The district authorities have opened 17 relief camps in Alappuzha in view of heavy rains.

Five camps were opened in Chengannur taluk, two in Cherthala and a camp in Mavelikara. At present, eleven camps are functioning in Chengannur, four in Cherthala and two in Mavelikara.

More than 1100 people were shifted to relief camps in three Talukas of Allapuzha.

571 people including 245 men, 251 women and 75 children from 184 families were shifted to the camps. In Chengannur, there are 282 people from 79 families in the camps. In Cherthala, 262 people from 98 families and 27 people from seven families in Mavelikkara were moved to relief camps.

As heavy rain continued in many parts of Kerala on Wednesday, the administration in eleven districts of the state declared a holiday for educational institutions.

Six districts of the state are on Orange Alert.

Due to cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal, Kerala has been witnessing heavy rain for the third consecutive day. The rain has caused waterlogging, coastal erosion and overflowing of rivers in many parts of the state.

Kakkad River in the Kannur district of the state overflowed and entered residential areas.

Authorities have put up makeshift barricades to discourage people from using flooded routes.

The districts that are under Orange Alert are Idukki, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod.

A Red Alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rains of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while an Orange Alert means very heavy rains from 6 cm to 20 cm of rain. A Yellow Alert means heavy rainfall between 6 to 11 cm.

All educational institutions remained closed in Alappuzha, Kannur, Kozhikode, Kottayam, Kasaragod, Palakkad, Idukki, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Kollam on Thursday.

The western parts of the Kottayam district have witnessed flooding.

Emergency Operation Centres have been established to review the situation in all taluks of the state. Revenue Minister K Rajan on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting of district collectors and other revenue officials.

The coastal belt of the state bore the brunt of rough seas causing the 1,154 people to be shifted to as many as 64 relief camps across the State.

Considering the severity of the rains, district-level and taluk-level emergency operation centres have been instructed to work around the clock.