The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has announced that all flight operations at the Kochi airport will be suspended till 2 pm on Wednesday due to heavy rains and due to opening of the dam shutters in the Periyar river.
As per a PTI report, an airport spokesperson said, “Operations suspended to/from Cochin International Airport till 1400 hrs...due to flood level in and around Airport.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the CIAL had announced that flight operations at the airport will only be cancelled from 4 am to 7 am, but after further reviewing the condition, they came to decision to cancel all operations till 2 pm.
After a brief period of calm for two days, the district of Idukki was again hit by rains forcing the authorities to open the shutters of the Cheruthoni dam of the Idukki reservoir.
Due to the heavy rains in the northern hilly districts, several landslides and floods have been reported from districts like Wayanad, forcing thousands of people to move to relief camps.
The shutters of the Mullaperiyar dam in the Idukki district was opened at 2.30 am on Wednesday following the rise in water levels at the dam.
With this, shutters of 33 dams in Kerala have been opened. Many districts in the state have been inundated with water following heavy rains and controlled discharge from dams.
It has been reported that almost 4,000 people will be shifted from the banks to various relief camps in the Idukki district.
The Kerala Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan in a press meet on Tuesday said that it was for the first time since 1924 that the state was facing a crisis of this magnitude.
In the last one week, 38 people have died and four are missing. According to a rough estimate, more than one lakh people have been affected.
Idukki and Wayanad are the worst-hit districts, while Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Ernakulam too have been badly affected.