Heavy rains lash Kerala, orange alert in four districts

As heavy rains continued to batter Kerala landslides and flooding were reported from many parts of the state especially its southernmost district of Thiruvananthapuram which was severely affected by waterlogging in several areas on SundayAccording to visuals shown on TV channels the heavy rains since Saturday led to waterlogging and flooding of streets roads and lowlying areas of Thiruvananthapuram districtThe Technopark colony in Kazhakootam a suburban area in the district saw water entering homes leading to people being evacuated from homes as per the visualsWater entered hundreds of homes in the district and in some areas there were also incidents of landslides according to the visualsVisuals also showed cars almost submerged while rescuers evacuated people from homes in inflatable boats to camps in some parts of ThiruvananthapuramState General Education Minister V Sivankutty who visited the flooded areas said in a Facebook post that the rains since the previous night have created an unusual situation in the city of ThiruvananthapuramHe said there was waterlogging in many places and the nonreceding of the rising sea water has also aggravated the situationThe minister said the district administration was conducting relief operations on a wartime basis and all kinds of the aid and assistance would be provided to those affectedState Revenue Minister K Rajan also visited some of the flood affected areas according to his Facebook postAfter a ministerial level meeting was held Sivankutty at a press briefing said many parts of Thiruvananthapuram especially the capital city have been seriously affected by floods and waterloggingRajan said that over 100 mm of rainfall was received in the capital city and nearly double that in the area around the international airport since Saturday nightIt is one of the major reasons for the waterlogging and flooding he saidThe minister said that his cabinet colleagues state Transport Minister Antony Raju and Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil were also monitoring the situation and concerned government officials have been asked to report for dutyAdditionally 17 relief camps have been operationalised in the district and 572 people are presently sheltered there he saidThough the situation is under control more water needs to recede he addedMany residents of the district and the state capital told channels that even in the 2018 floods such a situation was not seenThe flooding and water entering homes began post midnight suddenly It was unexpected a resident saidWaterlogging of roads and water entering homes were also reported from various parts of Ernakulam district on SaturdayMeanwhile on Sunday the India Meteorological Department IMD issued an orange alert in four Thiruvananthapuram Kollam Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha and yellow alert in 8 districts of the state for the dayThe IMD also predicted isolated heavy rainfall in many places in the state in the coming daysIt issued an orange alert in four districts and yellow alert in the remainder of the districts of the state for MondayAn orange alert means very heavy rain from 6 cm to 20 cm of rain and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 and 11 cmThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever