Over 100 killed in Kerala in just one day as flood crisis worsens

Torrential rains, overflowing rivers and a series of landslides have resulted in death of 164 people in the state. Southern Railways and Kochi Metro have suspended their operations in flood-hit Kerala. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the flood situation in the state continues to be in danger and there is no respite of water overflowing from the rivers like Pampa, Periyar and Chalakudy. Four districts, Allappuzha, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur have been worst affected with this.

Water rising in Periyar river. The water has reached Ambatkavu Metro station. The national highway has been damaged at many places from Chalakudi to Puthukaad. The water level at Idukki is 2402.25 feet..Southern Naval Command INS Venduruthy is setting up community kitchen for 3000 people at UC College Aluva in coordination with district administration.Many hospitals in the district cancelled routine operations and OPD on Thursday to cope with a surge in patients from neighbouring hospitals that were waterlogged amid severe staff shortage being reported from these hospitals.Life has come to a standstill in Kerala with flood and landslides leading to unforeseen miseries and chaos. The series of landslides and similar accidents caused over 50 deaths in the last two days alone even though the official death toll for the last one week was pegged at 86. Unofficial reports said that there were at least 97 deaths in the last one week. Over 1.67 lakh people are rehabilitated in 1165 relief camps functioning in the state.More than 600 persons are trapped in the fourth and fifth floor of Sree Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences (SNIMS), Chalakka,

since Wednesday morning. This includes, 100 patients, 150 medical students, faculty, locals and even those who were involved in rescue operations.A total of 6679 persons have been shifted to relief camps in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. 1330 families are being housed in 63 relief camps.LSG minister AC Moitheen has directed that all local body offices shall function 24 hours to deal with disaster and to render assistance to the needy.The supplementary examinations scheduled to be held at Cochin University College of Engineering, Kuttanad on 16, 17 and 18 August will be conducted at School of Engineering in the Thrikkakara campus.The Centre today decided to send 35 more NDRF teams comprising nearly 1,000 personnel to shore up relief and rescue operations in rain-battered Kerala.Train services through Thiruvanananthapuram-Alappuzha-Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram-Nagercoil-Tirunelveli will continue to be operated under suitable speed restrictions as required.Due to landslips, heavy rain,

rising water level under bridges, all the train services on Thiruvananthapuram-Kottayam-Ernakulam and Ernakulam-Shoranur-Palakkad sections will be suspended till 4pm, Friday.The varsity has postponed all examinations scheduled till August 31. Also the centralized evaluation camps for third semester UG examinations scheduled to commence on August 17 has been postponed.Calicut University has rearranged the Onam- Bakrid holidays for affiliated colleges in view of the heavy rains. The colleges and study departments will remain closed from August 16 to August 29.Death toll in Kozhikode reached six today. One youth Rasnas Aslam drowned and the body of seven-year-old Muhammed Yasin recovered. Yasin had gone missing in stream two days ago Union Minister of State for Tourism Alphons Kannanthanam will reach Trivandrum at 7.20pm today. He will meet the concerned

authorities for assessing the flood situation in the state and will join the working of Disaster Management Control room in Secretariat. He is rushing to Kerala under the directive from Prime Minister to coordinate the rescue operations.The Centre has decided to scale up flood rescue and relief operations in Kerala by deploying additional manpower and equipment. Acting on the instructions of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, cabinet secretary P K Sinha on Thursday chaired a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) to review the prevailing flood situation and make further arrangements for continued and scaled up assistance to the state.As of now, 18 teams of NDRF, 9 columns and 8 teams of Engineering Task Force (ETC) of the Army, 22 teams of Coast Guard, 24 diving teams of Navy along with helicopters, aircrafts,

boats, equipment, life buoys, life jackets, etc., have been dispatched to Kerala in rescue operations as well as evacuation of stranded people.The country's apex body to handle emergency situation on Thursday decided to scale up relief and rescue operations in flood-hit Kerala by involving the three defence services and other agencies, besides providing essential commodities to marooned people in 14 worst-affected districts.Kerala's most savage monsoon in a century has killed 324 people over the last nine days, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said, issuing a fresh rain alert for the battered state.

Nearly 2 lakh people have been displaced. The state, battling floods and landslides, plunged deeper into crisis today, with hospitals facing shortage of oxygen and fuel stations running dry. Rescue efforts have been progressing on a war footing and Mr Vijayan said he has spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will reach Kerala this evening.

1. "Kerala is facing its worst flood in 100 years. 80 dams opened, 324 lives lost and 223139 people are in about 1500+ relief camps," read a tweet from the Chief Minister's Office.

1. "I spoke to the defence minister this morning and asked for more helicopters," Mr Vijayan told a news conference in state capital Thiruvananthapuram earlier today. "In some areas, airlifting is the only option ... thousands are still marooned," he said, adding that he planned to send 11 more helicopters to the worst-hit places.

1. An alarming situation has developed in Alapuzha, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Pathanamthitta, where roads have become completely submerged. Almost all parts of Thrissur and Chalakudy towns are under water. Water has even started entering relief camps. More boats and four choppers have been deployed in the area.

1. This morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Had a telephone conversation with Kerala CM Shri Pinarayi Vijayan just now. We discussed the flood situation across the state and reviewed rescue operations. Later this evening, I will be heading to Kerala to take stock of the unfortunate situation due to flooding."

1. Though the met office has said he rainfall will continue till Saturday, the intensity has lessened slightly.

1. Twelve more teams of the National Disaster Response Force have been sent to Kerala, reported news agency Press Trust of India. Altogether, 35 teams are expected to reach the state by evening. The Coast Guard has stationed three ships at Kochi.

1. Domestic airlines have been asked to keep a check on air fares for flights operating to and from Kerala. Telecom operators have announced free call and data services and other relief measures for a week for users in Kerala.

1. Kerala is being ravaged by torrential rains since August 8, which has triggered landslides and floods. It  has disrupted air, rail and road traffic in several places. Public transport has practically disappeared from most parts of the state.Around 2 lakh people are living in 1,568 relief camps across the state.

1. Many parts of Kochi have been flooded. Aluva is one of the worst-affected areas.Fresh landslides were reported from southern Kerala's Idukki and the northern districts of Malappuram and Kannur.

1. Popular tourist destinations like Munnar and Ponmudi are almost cut-off because of bad roads due to landslides. Except for official vehicles, no other vehicles are allowed to enter Munnar. People have also been asked not to visit the Sabarimala hill shrine as the water level in the rain-fed Pampa river is high.

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