Following an alarming rise in water levels in Kuttiyadi and Chaliyar rivers, the disaster management authorities on Friday shifted large number of families to safer locations.

A few were accommodated at camps opened by the Revenue Department in Vadakara and Thamarassery taluks. Officials said the families were evacuated as a safety measure and in view of the rise in water level after the shutters of Kuttiyadi dam were opened. Though some of them were reluctant to leave their homes, timely intervention by local body members smoothened the process, they added.

Those shifted to safer locations are from Maniyur, Velam, Kayakkodi, Chakkittappara, Changaroth, Koothali, Perambra, Cheruvannur, Thiruvallur, and Maruthongara. On the instructions of the disaster management authorities, a few families in Kodiyathur, Chathamangalam, and Mukkom were also shifted to relief camps.

Considering chances of multiple landslips, public entry has been restricted in a few landslip-prone regions in Vadakara and Thamarassery taluks. Several families were evacuated from Vilangad region in Vadakara where four persons, including three from a family, were killed in a major landslip.

Revenue officials said they were keeping high vigil at Kannappankundu and Karinchola where people were badly hit by rain-related calamities last year. Some families in vulnerable areas have already been relocated to safer places, they added.

Though a number of voluntary organisations and youths joined the local disaster management activities, the unexpected power outage and poor mobile signals troubled them in interior areas. Residents of Thamarassery taluk said the snapped power lines were yet to be repaired in several flood-hit areas.

The taluk-level control rooms opened by the Revenue authorities too remained inaccessible for many owing to power outage and poor mobile signals. Poor Internet connectivity also hindered timely reach of various emergency communications from the district administration through social media.

A few local bodies on Friday attempted to address the issue through public announcements.