With heavy rains lashing Palakkad district since Monday evening, all the shutters of the Malampuzha dam were raised even higher, leading to many places getting inundated.
Following continuous rainfall since Monday evening, all the shutters of the Malampuzha dam were raised from 45 cms to 54 cms, letting out more water.
This has reportedly affected places such as Shekharipuram, Ramanadhapuram, Chandra Nagar and Arumugam Colony, among others, say officials at the District Control Room.
Although water from Kalpathy River has started flooding the streets, officials say that there is no reason to panic.
"It was raining heavily until about an hour ago, so there is waterlogging in many places because of that. Raising dam shutters even higher has also contributed to it. But the situation remains under control and an immediate evacuation is not required at this point. We have, however, advised people to move to the nearest relief camp if they deem it fit and have asked people not to panic. The rains have stopped now and we hope the water will begin to slowly recede," the official said.
#KeralaFloods After shutters of Malampuzha dam raised further, several parts of #Palakkad inundated again. Video shot and sent to TNM by Vivin Sharma. pic.twitter.com/H6tY2z3x1d
— Megha Varier (@varier_megha) August 14, 2018
Confirming this to TNM, District Collector D Balamurali said that Palakkad district received very high rainfall for the first time in many years, leading to the present situation.
"People have basically panicked, since we are not used to getting so much rain in Palakkad. It’s the first time we are seeing such rains and the low-lying areas have become flooded. Most of the people who live in these areas and near canals are already in relief camps. Now that the shutters of the dams have been opened further, the areas have flooded. As of today, we haven't carried out any rescue operations or shifted anyone to relief camps. Such a situation hasn't risen yet," the collector said.
According to the IMD, Kerala is predicted to get very high rainfall in most districts till August 15. As far as Palakkad is concerned, heavy to very high rainfall in most places is predicted till Tuesday, and heavy to very high rainfall in isolated places on August 16 and 17 is predicted.