Kerala floods hit with devastating destruction leaving 23 dead, triggered by heavy rains and landslides in hilly areas of several districts.
As many as 23 people died in the Kerala floods, and fourteen deaths were reported from the Kottayam district and eight from Idukki. Idukki District Collector Sheeba George told PTI the search was on for missing persons. In a tragic incident, officials had earlier recovered the bodies of three children buried under slush after intense rescue efforts. The children, aged eight, seven, and four, were found holding each other, they said.
At Koottickal in Kottayam district, a family of six, including a 40-year-old man, his 75-year-old mother, a 35-year-old wife, and three girl children, aged 14, 12, and 10 years, were killed as their house was swept away in the landslide. Earlier, an Army team had arrived at the flood-hit sites and launched a search operation for the missing persons.
Landslides caused widespread destruction and death in Kottayam and Idukki districts.
A frightening video of a house crashing into a river was shared on Twitter.
#keralarain
Shocking !!#മുണ്ടക്കയം pic.twitter.com/SCl6As2zsS— Jayasree Vijayan (@JayasreeVijayan) October 17, 2021
CM Vijayan on Sunday urged the people of the state to exercise extreme caution even as the weatherman withdrew Red and Orange alerts for the south-central districts of the state and asked the public to follow the instructions of the authorities.
“The weatherman has warned about strong wind and lightning till today evening. Currently, the depression, formed in the Arabian sea, has weakened. However, there are chances that it will rain till evening. Yellow Alert has been issued by the IMD for the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode,” Vijayan said in a Facebook post.
He also informed that across the state 105 relief camps have been opened and more camps will be set up if needed.
“NDRF teams have been deployed to Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Malappuram districts. Directions have been issued to deploy five additional teams to Idukki, Kottayam, Kollam, Kannur, and Palakkad districts. Two choppers of the Air Force from Coimbatore have reached Thiruvananthapuram,” Vijayan said.
State Revenue Minister K. Rajan had earlier said rescue workers had recovered bodies from the debris and slush of the landslides that had hit various places of Idukki and Kottayam districts on Saturday.
“Few people are still stranded as per local sources. Presently no rains however heavily overcast. Madras Regiment from Pangode Military Station commenced the rescue operation at Kavali Village 4 km away from Koottickal, Kottayam District,” a Defence spokesperson said. A Navy chopper reached the affected areas with relief materials.
PM Modi spoke to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan to assess the flood situation and said authorities were working on the ground to help the affected and HM Amit Shah assures all help
“Spoke to Kerala CM Shri @vijayanpinarayi and discussed the situation in the wake of heavy rains and landslides in Kerala. Authorities are working on the ground to assist the injured and affected. I pray for everyone’s safety and well-being,” Modi said in a tweet.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also assured of all help to the people of Kerala. He said in a tweet that the government was “continuously monitoring the situation in parts of Kerala in the wake of heavy rainfall and flooding.” “The Central govt will provide all possible support to help people in need. NDRF teams have already been sent to assist the rescue operations. Praying for everyone’s safety,” Shah said.
In its forecast, India Meteorological Department said that yesterday’s low-pressure area over Southeast Arabian Sea and adjoining Kerala has become less marked and is now seen as a trough from south Interior Karnataka to south Tamil Nadu at lower levels.
“Under its influence, isolated heavy rainfall very likely over Kerala on 17th October 2021 and significant reduction thereafter,” it said. Thereafter, a fresh spell of easterly wave is likely to affect south Peninsular India from October 20 and cause fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls likely over Kerala from October 20 and expected to continue for subsequent 3-4 days, it added.
Criticism for the Floods for Not Implementing the Western Ghats Ecology Panel Report:
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the non-implementation of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report authored by eminent ecologist Madhav Gadgil in 2011, was the major reason for frequent occurrences of devastating floods and landslides in hilly areas of Kerala. “Whenever there is a natural disaster in Kerala, the Madhav Gadgil’s the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report of 2011 is recalled. A decade later it remains unimplemented despite devastating floods in 2018 and 2020″, Ramesh wrote on Twitter.
Kerala Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan, who visited Kokkayar and Koottickal, alleged that the state government failed to launch rescue operations in time in the affected areas.