Weather

With heavy rains continuing to lash several parts of the state, the Kerala government on Monday said emergency operation centres have been opened in all district collectorates and taluk offices as there is a possibility of landslides and mudslides.

Hospitals have also been put on alert and supplies stocked to handle any eventuality, such as an epidemic outbreak.

Widespread incidents of water-logging in low-lying areas of villages and towns and uprooting of trees have been reported across the state. State Revenue Minister K Rajan said special directions have been given to alert tourists who arrive in the state about the rain situation and stressed the need for strict regulations in hilly areas in the wake of possible landslide threats.

“The Disaster Management Authority has warned that there is even the possibility of mudslides on the road due to heavy rains,” he told reporters here.

Safety boards would be installed in such areas to warn travellers about the threat of a possible landslide, he said. District collectors have been told to impose a night travel ban in hilly areas if necessary, Rajan added.

A 25-year-old migrant worker from Bihar went missing in Manimala River in Pathanamthitta district, police said. The incident happened when he, along with two other migrant workers, were swimming in the river.

Naresh went missing as the water level in the river rose but the other two escaped, police said, adding that fire force personnel launched a search to find him. Several low-lying areas of the Kuttanad region in coastal Alappuzha were flooded in heavy rains, while waterlogging resulted in traffic snarls in nearby Kochi.

The famed tourist centres of Vazhachal and Athirapally in Thrissur would remain closed from Tuesday due to the possible threat of mudslides, authorities said. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) continued to place Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, and Idukki districts on "red alert," forecasting extremely heavy rainfall on Monday and Tuesday. Pathanamthitta has been placed on red alert on May 22 also.

The IMD on Monday sounded an orange alert in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram and Kozhikode districts, it said.

A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rain of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while an orange alert means very heavy rain of 11 cm to 20 cm, and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 cm and 11 cm.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted severe heatwave conditions across much of northwestern India until May 25.

This red warning highlights the need for local agencies to take action to prevent extreme heat-related emergencies, as high temperatures continue to affect the region. “Heatwave to severe heatwave conditions very likely in many/most pockets over Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, West Rajasthan; in some parts of West Uttar Pradesh, East Rajasthan & northwest Madhya Pradesh during 20th-24th and East Uttar Pradesh on 20th May 2024,” the weather agency said in a press release.

Heatwave conditions are also anticipated in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Saurashtra, and Kutch on May 23, 2024.