The heavy rains that have lashed the State since Monday midnight has once again brought the Central Travancore districts of Kottayam and Pathanamthitta on the edge.
The water level in all major rivers across the region have recorded a steady rise throughout the day while the flood waters gushing from the upper reaches have threatened to damage the standing crops in the low-lying areas. The torrential rains have also ensured copious inflow to the dams in the Pathanamthitta district, all of which are close to attaining the full reservoir level.
The authorities have already opened three shutters of the Moozhiyar dam, which has been put on a red alert, by 30 cms as the water level in the reservoir is inching closer to the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 192.63 m. As many as five shutters of the Maniyar dam, where the storage level has almost reached its capacity of 34. 62 m, too have been opened
The water level in the Kakki and Pampa reservoirs, however, stand a good twenty feet below FRL of 981. 46 m and 986.33 m respectively.
In Pathanamthitta, the Kakki forests received the highest rainfall of 207 mm in the 24 hours that ended at 10 a.m on Tuesday, followed by the Pampa region with 174.mm. Water levels in Pampa and Achenkovil rivers, which are rising sharply, are inching closer to the warning level.
The causeways at Kurumbanmozhi and Arayanjiliman remain partially submerged in the flood waters, causing traffic disruptions along the forest-side villages.
The rainfall details available from Kottayam, meanwhile, showed the district received an average rainfall of 110.2 mm during the current spell . The Mundakkayam and Kanjirappally regions recorded the highest downpour of 175 mm and 161 mm respectively.
The water level in Meenachil, Manimala and Muvattupuzha rivers continue to rise though it remains well below the flood warning levels.
As per official estimates, the total rainfall in Pathanamthitta during this summer has already crossed the 100 mm mark while Kottayam received about 85. 9 mm rain between March 1 and May 25.The unprecedented rainfall also caused widespread damage across the region with the farm sectors in Kottayam and Pathanamthitta reporting losses of ₹23.6 crore and ₹18.56 crore respectively.
