Thiruvananthapuram: On Monday, several bodies were found under the debris in Koottickal in the district of Kottayam and Kokkayar in the district of Idukki. This has taken the death toll in Kerala to 27. The deaths were all caused by floods and landslides.
The last body to be found belonged to 7-year-old Sachu Shahul in Kokkayar as the search operation concluded on Monday evening.
Several deaths due to drowning have also been reported in Kozhikode, Thrissur and Palakkad districts.
In the Idukki district, 2 persons were killed after a car was swept away by floodwaters.
According to national media, the rapid rise of the water level at the Idukki dam caused the authorities to sound an orange alert. While the fully capacity of the reservoir is 2403 ft, the water level had risen to 2396.86 ft. The Kerela State Electricity Board (KSEB) also announced that the water level would soon breach the red alert level by Monday evening and the upper rule level by Tuesday morning.
11 districts in Kerela out of 14 has been issued a yellow alert by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) as more rain is predicted from Wednesday onwards due to a fresh wave of the easterly wave.
Pilgrims have been discouraged from visiting Sabarimala Temple on the occasion of Thulam month due to incoming rains by the Revenue Minister K Ranjan. He further requested those stationed at the base camp of Nilakkal to return home.
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