Heavy rain lashes parts of south and central Kerala

KOCHI: Large parts of south and central Kerala received heavy rains on Wednesday even as the Indian meteorological department sounded an orange alert for six districts including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Idukki. Thrissur district is on yellow alert for 7-12cm of rain.
The state which has been rain-starved in the first two months of its peak monsoon season of June and July, woke up to heavy rainfall which saw inundation in many places in Kochi too. According to IMD data issued in the morning, Kottayam and Vaikkom received nearly 19cm of very heavy rainfall while Cherthala and Kumarakom recorded 17 cms. Ernakulam city was completely waterlogged in several places as the rainfall was recorded at nearly 13-15cm in many places. Prime city areas like Panampilly naga, Ravipuram, Maradu, Petta, Tripunithura saw traffic go haywire with breakdown of vehicles and two-wheelers skidding in the flooding waters.

Reports said that two-wheelers met with accidents on the Kundanoor-Pettah road due to water-logging and pot-holes opened up in many places in Kochi.

The IMD has informed that moderate rainfall is very likely to occur at one or two places in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram districts in Kerala and AminiDivi, Kavarathi, Agathi and Minicoy Islands in Lakshadweep in the next three hours.

Spillways and shutters have been opened in some of the dams in the state including Neyyar (Thiruvananthapuram), Bhoothathankettu (Ernakulam), Malankara (Idukki), Moolathara (Palakkad), Karapuzha (Wayanad), Kuttiyadi (Kozhikode) and Pazhassi (Kannur) as the water levels crossed the threshold limits.
IMD has warned that squally weather with wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph is likely to prevail along and off Kerala coast. Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas.
Coastal areas are on maximum alert as high waves in the range of 2.5 -3.3 meters are forecast along the coast of Kerala from Pozhiyoor to Kasargod. Surface current speeds vary between 62 -82 cm/sec.