According to the official government website, 13 out of the 14 districts are severely affected while 80 dams have already been opened. The vigorous Southwest monsoon over Kerala has resulted in 211+ landslides, while more than 20,000 houses have been damaged. Preliminary estimates count a loss of more than Rs 8,316 crore.
Hundreds of people, including women, children and the elderly trapped in places inaccessible by boats were winched up by defence helicopters and shifted to safety. Here are top developments from the horrific Kerala Flood situation:
• Punjab CM announces Rs 10 crore immediate relief for flood-ravaged Kerala
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has announced Rs 10 crore immediate relief for the flood-ravaged Kerala. According to an official statement, while Rs 5 crore is being transferred from the Punjab Chief Minister's Relief Fund to Kerala counterpart's relief fund, the remaining Rs 5 crore will be in the form of ready-to-eat food material and other supplies, to be flown there with the help of the Defence Ministry.
• Supreme Court asks crisis management panels to consider lowering dam water level
The Supreme Court today asked two crisis management panels to explore the possibility of reducing the water level at the Mullaperiyar Dam by three feet to deal with the devastating floods in Kerala and asked Tamil Nadu to "scrupulously obey" any decision taken on the issue. Emphasising that the critical flood situation needed to be dealt with "focus, concentration and efficiency by all concerned", the top court said it was not an expert to deal with such unprecedented natural calamity and was leaving it to the executive to tackle the situation.
• Air India and Air India Express to operate Kochi flights from Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode
National carrier Air India and its low-cost arm Air India Express, today said their flights scheduled to depart from the Kochi airport, which has been shut down till August 26 due to floods, will operate from Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.
• More spells of heavy rain over the weekend in Kerala: Met dept
The southwest monsoon over rain-battered Kerala will bring in more heavy spells during the weekend in that state, besides Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the regional weather office said today. In its heavy rainfall warning for August 18, RMC said "heavy to very heavy rain" was likely at isolated places over coastal Karnataka.
• Moved 4,000 people to safety, 51 teams in Kerala: NDRF
The NDRF said today it has moved more than 4,000 people to safer places and rescued another 44 from flooded areas in Kerala during the past nine days, even as its personnel struggle to reach remote areas cut off due to landslides. Kerala has been severely hit by monsoon rains and rivers and dam reservoirs are overflowing, inundating a large part of the state. At least 100 people died yesterday in rain-related incidents, State Disaster Management Authority officials said in Thiruvananthapuram.
• PM Modi to visit Kerala to take stock of flood situation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kerala this evening to take stock of the flood situation there. He tweeted that he would be reaching the state later this evening "to take stock of the unfortunate situation due to floods there." The prime minister spoke with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan this morning. "We discussed the flood situation across the state and reviewed rescue operations," Modi, who has been in touch with Vijayan for the last two days, said.
• Centre and state launch massive rescue and relief operations
The Indian Coast Guard's rescue and relief team from Vandiperiyar has been shifted to the flood-affected Manjumala village in Kerala's Idukki district.
So far, the team has rescued 16 stranded people from the village. Food and dry ration have been distributed among them. Five units of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) reached Thiruvananthapuram and were deployed for rescue operations. 35 teams are expected to reach there today. Earlier on Thursday, NDRF teams evacuated 926 people to a safer place.
• CM Pinarayi Vijayan urges people to donate
Kerela Chief Minister has urged the people to contribute generously to relief efforts. In a Facebook post he said that rebuilding the affected areas is going to be an arduous task. The Chief Minister himself has made a personal contribution of one lakh rupees to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).
(With inputs from PTI)