Incessant rains continue to lash Kerala; Holiday declared to edu institutions in some districts

Thiruvananthapuram: Heavy rains lashed several parts of Kerala on Tuesday prompting authorities to declare holiday to educational institutions and set up control rooms in districts.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has already sounded "red alert" in Idukki and Kannur districts for today.

It also issued "orange alerts" for 10 of the remaining 12 districts in the state on the day.

As heavy downpour is expected in southern Alappuzha, the district administration declared holiday to all educational institutions including schools, and professional colleges, an official statement said.

As a precautionary measure, holiday was declared to all educational institutions, except colleges in northernmost Kasaragod district also.

The district administration urged people to avoid travelling unnecessarily through high range roads due to threat of landslides.

Two-wheeler riders are advised to avoid national highways as waterlogging has been reported in many places due to continuous rainfall.

Directions have been issued to address and resolve the issue at the earliest, a senior district official said.

The official Facebook page of Ernakulam District Collector said that in view of "intense rains" in the district holiday was declared to all educational institutions.

Considering the 'orange alert' sounded in the district on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Mining and Geology Department ordered halting all kinds of mining and related operations in Ernakulam.

In Pathanamthitta, special control rooms, which would function round-the clock, are operational at the district collectorate and taluk offices to meet any exigency as rains intensified.

All taluks in nearby Kottayam district also witnessed heavy downpour throughout the night. The sky is overcast and rain continued to batter many places, authorities said.

According to weatherman, cyclonic circulation lies over Southwest Bay of Bengal in lower and middle tropospheric levels.

"Light or moderate fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to heavy very likely to continue over the region during next 5 days." Isolated extremely heavy rainfall is likely over Kerala on Tuesday and Wednesday, a report said.

As heavy rains lashed the southern state on Monday leading to the death of a girl, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan advised people to be vigilant and avoid getting close to rivers, travel to hilly areas and trips to the beach.

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.