Monsoon fury: Death toll rises to 160 in Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra; lakhs displaced

Various agencies, including the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, NDRF, police force, volunteers and fishermen are involved in rescue operations at several places. One of the worst-hit regions in the state is Puthumala in Wayanad, which was struck by a massive landslide on August 8. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said eight people were still missing and search operations were on for them.

A scene from Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district. (India Navy)

Vijayan held a meeting with senior officials on Sunday morning to review the flood situation. He later told reporters that even though the rains had subsided, people should remain vigilant. “There is respite from the rains today in the hills. But we need to be cautious. It’s not easy to escape from landslides,” he said.

The Cochin international airport, which has remained closed for the past two days due to waterlogging of the runway, has resumed operations from Sunday noon. The Abu Dhabi-Kochi Indigo flight touched down at around 12.15 pm, marking the resumption of the operations, the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) official said.

The Southern Railway announced that many trains, including the Jamnagar express, Nizamuddin-Ernakulam Durrunto and Kochuveli-Amritsar express have been fully cancelled. Six trains have been partially cancelled and two trains diverted.

Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi arrived on a two-day visit to Kerala on Sunday afternoon and visited his Lok Sabha constituency, which is one of the severely affected areas in the state.

Gandhi visited a relief camp at Wayanad and patiently heard the woes of the people who were displaced from their homes following flooding and destruction of their dwellings. Assuring the people of assistance, the Congress leader said, “We will do everything in our power to help them get back on their feet.”

Gandhi visited a relief camp at Wayanad and patiently heard the woes of the people who were displaced from their homes following flooding and destruction of their dwellings. (Source: Rahul Gandhi Wayanad/ Twitter)

IAF helicopters of Southern Air Command dropped food packets over the flood-affected areas of Malappuram district. Over 1,000 kg of food items were airdropped in multiple sorties, a Defence press release said.

Meanwhile, state-run telecom firm BSNL on Sunday announced unlimited calling for subscribers within the company’s network for seven days in flood-hit areas of Kerala. The company has also offered SMS and 1 GB data service for free in these areas.

“Due to the unprecedented flood situation in Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra, it has been decided by BSNL to offer free voice calls from BSNL Mobile to BSNL Mobile and 20 minutes free from BSNL Mobile to other operator mobile numbers,” BSNL said in a statement.

A full-fledged search operation had to wait as forces and rescue workers could not be mobilised to the spot due to heavy rain and landslides along the way. (Express photo by Vishnu Varma)

Rescue workers finally managed to reach Kavalappara village in Malappuram, Kerala, on Saturday noon, two days after a hill came down following incessant rain, burying more than a dozen houses and at least 46 people. A full-fledged search operation had to wait as forces and rescue workers could not be mobilised to the spot due to heavy rain and landslides along the way.

Grim situation in Karnataka

The unprecedented floods in the state since last week have claimed as many as 31 lives and forced more than 4 lakh people to leave their homes in 80 taluks of 17 districts in Karnataka, as per a PTI report. The government has assessed that 21,431 houses and crops in 4.16 lakh hectares had been damaged in the floods following heavy rains.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah Sunday took an aerial survey of the flood-hit regions of Belagavi in Karnataka and Maharashtra’s Kolhapur and Sangli. He was accompanied by state Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Union ministers Pralhad Joshi and Suresh Angadi, Rajya Sabha member Prabhakar Kore and Hukkeri BJP MLA Umesh Katti.

Army personnel rescuing people from the flood-affected areas in Belagavi district. (File)

Officials informed that keeping the series of landslides in mind, the national highway connecting Bengaluru and Mangaluru will remain closed at least till Monday. The worst affected districts are Belagavi, Bagalkote, Vijayapura, Gadag, Uttara Kannada, Raichur, Yadigir, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu.

Monsoon fury in Maharashtra

The state has been witnessing heavy deluge since the past week, several areas have been waterlogged and around 3.78 lakh people were so far evacuated. Some of the worst-hit regions are Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Palghar, Ratnagiri, Raigad and Sindhudurg districts. Nearly 369 temporary shelters have been set up for those displaced by floods in these districts.

“Total 4,24,333 people have so far been evacuated across the state. Of these, 2.33 lakh have been shifted to safer places from Kolhapur alone. A total of 761 villages in 69 tehsils are affected by floods,” an official told PTI.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reviewed the rescue and relief operations in Sangli on Saturday.

Worst hit is the Amravati division in Vidarbha, where the water level in 446 dams is at 23.63 per cent. In Aurangabad division in Marathwada, 964 dams have a water level of 26.8 per cent. In the Marathwada region, Beed, Hingoli, Osmanabad and Parbhani are the most severely hit.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reviewed the rescue and relief operations in Sangli on Saturday. Addressing a press conference there, Fadnavis attributed the flooding to “unprecedented” rainfall this monsoon, which he said was “more than double” of that in 2005 when massive floods were witnessed.