Kerala Floods: 28 people dead, 12 bodies recovered from landslides
Kerala Floods: 28 people dead, 12 bodies recovered from landslides

Kerala Floods: 28 people dead, 12 bodies recovered from landslides

Three dead bodies have been recovered from Bhoothathan-Muthappan mountain in Nilambur while nine from Meppadi in Wayanad.

The number of causalities in the state of Kerala in the last three days in rain-related incidents has risen to 28. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that nine dead bodies were recovered on Friday from Malappuram and Wayanad as rains unleashed havoc in the northern parts of the state.

It is feared that around 40 people are trapped underneath the remains of the Bhoothathan-Muthappan mountain, that has collapsed in landslide in Nilambur of Malappuram district. Three dead bodies have been recovered from the spot. Rescue operations are in place and two people have been rescued, the CM said while addressing the media on Friday evening. National Disaster Response Force, Fire Force and police personnel and local people are taking part in rescue operations.

Travelling to the spot is tough and large rescue equipments cannot be carried as Payankara Bridge has also collapsed.

In Wayanad, nine bodies have been recovered from Meppadi. “It is not yet clear how many people have died in the landslide in Puthurmala in Meppadi. As many as 11 deaths have been reported from Wayanad. A total of 738 relief camps have been opened as of 3 pm on Friday; the number of people from 15748 families in the camps is 64,013,” the CM said.

Seven people have been missing in Meppadi and 27 people are injured. A total of 101 houses have been fully destroyed while 1383 houses have been partially destroyed.

As many as 12 NDRF teams have been deployed in Malappuram, Wayanad, Pathanamthitta, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Idukki.

Units of army have been deployed in Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Ernakulam districts while defence services teams have been doing rescue operations in Wayanad, Kozhikode and Kannur. Madras regiment has been deployed in Idukkki and Malappuram. A team from defence engineering service has started from Bhopal.

Rs 22.50 crore for emergency relief

An amount of Rs 22.50 crore has been allotted for emergency relief from the state disaster relief fund for 11 flood affected districts.

Apart from the rains another factor has also led to the flood - more water has been flowing into Chalakkudy river as Aliyar-Kondur canal in Tamil Nadu has been destroyed. Kerala has urged the Tamil Nadu government to repair the canal to make it functional.

Red warning has been issued in Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur districts, the CM said. People should be willing to move to safer places as directed by rescue workers.

Shutters of 7 dams opened

Shutters of seven dams under Kerala State Electricity Board have been opened, including Lower Periyar, Head Works in Munnar, Kallarkutty, Irattayar, and Kallar in Idukki Kakkayam in Kozhikode and Peringalkuthu in Thrissur. Shutters of dams like Malampuzha, Kanjirappuzha, Kuttiyadi, Mankalam, Walayar and Malankara under the Irrigation Department have also been opened.

Control Room at CM office

 A round the clock control room has been opened at the Chief Minister’s office to coordinate rescue operations. The control room can be contacted on 0471-2527500 and 0471 2322056.  

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