More districts in Kerala can expect extremely heavy rainfall on Sunday, a weather advisory issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has indicated.
The IMD, in a 10 a.m. update, has put seven districts - including five in northern Kerala - on red alert: Alappuzha, Idukki, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod. These districts are likely to receive above 20 cm rainfall in 24 hours, according to the IMD.
Six other districts - Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Palakkad - can expect isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall. An orange alert has been issued for these districts.
Although Thiruvananthapuram received steady rainfall through Saturday night and Sunday morning, it has now easened. The district could receive isolated heavy rainfall, the weather agency said.
The four shutters of the Neyyar dam in Thiruvananthapuram will be raised by another ten cm each with the in-flow into the reservoir increasing, District Collector Navjot Khosa said. All four shutters are currently raised by 25 cm each. People residing on the banks of the river should remain vigilant, the collector said.
Around 17 dams managed by the Irrigation Department and the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) are discharging water. But the storage in the bigger dams under KSEB are still at safe levels, KSEB said. The current storage in the Idukki dam, the biggest managed by the power utility, stands at 57%, Edamalayar at 50% and Kakki 53%, Banasurasagar 66% and Sholayar, 64%. These five reservoirs account for 88% of the combined capacity of dams managed by KSEB.
The KSEB has also opened control rooms at its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram and at the Dam Safety Organisation at Pallam, Kottayam, for ensuring round-the-clock monitoring of water levels.