Flash floods and series of landslides triggered by torrential rains continue to play havoc in most parts of Kerala even as the Centre has deployed all three wings of the armed forces in a massive rescue operation.
The death toll in rain-related incidents since August 8 has risen to 97 with 30 people killed on Thursday. Over 1.5 lakh people have been moved to hundreds of relief camps across the state. In Wayanad alone, more than 20,000 people have been put up in relief camps, authorities said. Hundreds of people are still trapped in their houses.
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Dramatic videos of people stranded atop their flooded homes and hills, and making desperate pleas for evacuation and relief, and ghastly visuals of flash floods and landslides have caused widespread panic even as rescue operations continue in full swing across the state. All districts in the state barring Kasaragod are on high alert.
The situation in the state was "extremely grave", said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday morning seeking more central assistance for relief operations. Modi is likely to visit the state on Friday to review the flood-hit areas.
Vijayan said 58 dams of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and 22 of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) have touched their maximum capacity. Most of the rivers are in spate with the floodgates of as many as 33 reservoirs lifted to push out the excess water.
Defence ministry has rushed fresh teams of Army, Navy and Air Force to the state to assist the rescue operations. National Disaster Response Forces's 12 additional teams have also been rushed to the state. The IAF has established an HADR cell in Thiruvananthapuram and is working in constant liaison with the state government to plan and execute rescue operations.
"Today there are 52 different teams of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and NDRF. With additional teams coming, we feel rescue operations would be speeded up," Vijayan said.
The unprecedented floods and landslides have brought road, rail and air traffic to a standstill. Southern Railway has cancelled or rescheduled over 25 trains running through the state. Operations at Cochin International Airport was suspended till August 26 as heavy rains left its runway inundated. Services on the Kochi Metro were halted for a few hours on Thursday, before resuming in the evening.
The Travanacore Devaswom Board, which manages the hill shrine of Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta district, has directed pilgrims not to visit the temple until water level in the Pamba comes down.
Earlier, Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha chaired an emergency meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), the country's apex body for handling emergency situations, in New Delhi to take stock of the situation. Chiefs of the three services, secretaries of home, defence and other top officials attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Tamil Nadu government to consider lowering the water level at Mullaperiyar dam to 139 feet from the current 142 feet. The top court also ordered the NCMC to meet on Friday over the dam storage and management. The committee has been asked to file a report by 2pm on Friday.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswamy said Mullaperiyar dam is safe and there is no need to reduce the water level. The 123-year-old dam has been a bone of contention between Kerala and Tamil Nadu for decades with the former insisting on rebuilding a new dam citing its “decaying” condition. Though the dam situates in Kerala, its operations rights wrests with Tamil Nadu as per an agreement signed by the two states.
(With inputs from PTI)