Heavy rain lashes Kerala; travel advisory, red alert issued

As heavy rain lashed Kerala on Monday leading to the death of a girl, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan advised people to be vigilant and avoid going near rivers, travel to hilly areas and trips to the beach.

The advisory by the Chief Minister came in the wake of the red alerts issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in two districts — Idukki and Kannur — of the state for Tuesday.

Besides that, the IMD issued orange alerts for 10 of the remaining 12 districts in the state on that day. Orange alert was also issued for all districts except Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam for Wednesday as well.

During the day, as heavy rain lashed several parts of the state, a Class 6 student died after a tree in the school fell on her.

Expressing grief over the incident, Education Minister V Sivankutty directed the Director of Public Education to inquire into the incident and submit a report within five days.

The Minister, in a statement, said schools were already instructed to cut down trees that could be dangerous for students and the same should be followed strictly.

The Director of Public Education was directed by the Minister to investigate how the tragic incident occurred despite the instructions, the statement said.

Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, Vijayan said that according to the IMD there was possibility of widespread rains in the state in the coming days and taking into account the severity of the rainfall, seven teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in Kerala.

The NDRF teams have been deployed in Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Alappuzha and Thrissur districts of the state.

Additionally, the State Emergency Operation Centre has been operationalised while district and taluk-level emergency operation centres have been instructed to work round the clock, he said.

In his post, the Chief Minister also advised people against crossing rivers, bathing or fishing in them, avoid night travel to hilly areas and cancel trips to the beach.

To those living in coastal areas, Vijayan said that they should follow instructions of the authorities and if required, temporarily relocate themselves from the danger zones.

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

(With Agency inputs)