Death toll in landslide, rain related incidents rises to 28

Kochi: With the recovery of two more bodies from under the debris, the death toll in the yesterday's landslide and rain related incidents went up to 28.

Rescue operations, led by fire force and disaster management forces with the help of local police and people recovered one each from Malappuram and Idukki districts, Kerala Disaster Control Room sources told UNI over phone.

Since heavy rain experienced in the catchment areas of Idukki (Cheruthoni) dam, the inflow of water to the reservoir continued heavily, which forced the Kerala State Electricity Board opened two more shutters of the Idukki dam to allow to release about  3 lakh litre of water per second, the sources added.

Talking to media at Idukki, Kerala Electricity Minister M M Mani said that the government has  taken all measures for the safety of people living in low lying areas, which was flooded due to  the release of water from the reservoirs.

Since the water level in the Idukki dam continued to be up to 22401.3 meters the government and the Electricity  Board was planning to release more water from the dam.  For that the government was looking possibilities of pulling down the shutters of Idamalayar dam, if the inflow of water to the Idamalayar dam come down, he added.

Military, Para Military and Naval forces joined with the disaster management forces, police and fire force in relief operations in the affected area, particularly in Malabar and Central parts of Kerala.

Meanwhile,  in view of  heavy rain, a  red alert were declared in six districts, including Malappuram, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Kannur, Palakkad and idukki, the sources said.

After review meeting at Aluva, near here, Kerala Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan told media that the government will take all measures to provide food to those affected and those who were shifted to relief camps.

''If the food distribution by the Civil Supplies Cooperation was insufficient, the government will look into arrange food from outside also,'' he said, adding that food would provide to both those who are in relief camps as well as those who were not moved to relief camps.

There were no crisis and the government was monitoring the situation and also taking all measures for the safety of the public, he added. The government had already shifted over 10,000 people to 157 camps  opened to accommodate those who were affected in the rain havoc.(UNI)