THIRUVANANTHAPURAM :
As heavy rains lash the southern state of Kerala, the Indian Metrological Department (IMD) on Tuesday issued an orange alert for nine districts and red alert for seven districts of the coastal state.
The weather department has predicted extremely heavy rainfall across the state. In the process, the IMD has also withdrawn red alert issued in some states over the past few days.
The orange alert issued today were for the Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts. However, there is no Orange alert for Ernakulam and Idukki for tomorrow.
Adding to the weather office’s prediction, the State Disaster Management Authority of Kerala on Tuesday said that the cyclonic circulation which was situated near Lakshadweep area has moved towards Kerala and predicted isolated heavy rains in some parts of the state.
The weatherman has said that squally weather with speed reaching 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph is likely to prevail over Gulf of Mannar, Comorin area, along and off south Tamil Nadu coast and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Southeast Arabian Sea, Andaman sea and adjoining southeast and East central Bay of Bengal.
“Fishermen are advised not to venture into these sea areas,” the IMD said. Kerala has been experiencing heavy rainfall for the past few days and it has disrupted normal life in certain places of the state.
Considering the heavy rains even as the onset of Southwest monsoon is expected only by the end of this month, the state government had called a meeting of the district collectors and issued directions to deal with any eventualities. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has already deployed five teams to Kerala.
A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rains of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while orange alert means very heavy rains from 6 cm to 20 cm of rain. A yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 to 11 cm. The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) has asked people to stay away from rivers and other water bodies until the rains subside.
The SDMA have also asked people not to travel to hilly regions unless it’s an emergency and to avoid night travel until the rain subsides. The district administrations have also warned the people staying near coastal areas of high tide.
The IMD has earlier predicted that the Southwest monsoon, which is also known as Edavapathy in the state, is likely to bring its first showers to Kerala by May 27, five days earlier than the normal onset date.
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