Even though there was a little respite from torrential rain on Saturday, major tributaries of the Kabani river, including Mananthavady, Panamaram and Nugu rivers, are in spate in many low-lying areas of the district. The district received 2,692.93 mm of rain from May 28 to August 11 this year, including 22.37 mm of rain on Saturday.
Relief and rescue operations by Army, Navy and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel are under way in the district, and nearly 400 persons, who were stranded in the flood, have been evacuated so far with the assistance of the police and fire and rescue services personnel, District Disaster Control Room sources said.
According to official figures, 759 houses in the district suffered damage in floods and landslips, and 223 of them were completely destroyed in monsoon-related calamities. As many as 13,916 people from 3,768 families were shifted to 126 relief camps, including 14 new camps opened on Saturday, in various parts of the district.
A team of 130 members from the three forces are engaged in relief and rescue operations. They were deployed on Saturday at Sugandhagiri, Kurichyarmala, and Panamaram. They are also engaged in activities like clearing of debris following landslips as well as distribution of food and other provisions to flood victims, the sources said. They will camp for three more days, as red alert has been issued in the district till August 14.
District Collector A.R. Ajayakumar said he had directed officials to collect details of people who had lost their documents, including ration cards.
An adalat will be organised next week to reissue the documents.