Members of national disaster response force (NDRF) evacuate flood-affected people to a safer place, in Sangliw... Read More

NEW DELHI: At least 22 people died in Gujarat on Saturday as torrential rains battered central Gujarat and Saurashtra while Kerala reported equal number of deaths. With these fresh deaths, Kerala’s total toll in the last three days has mounted to 57.

Heavy rains continued to lash several parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra on Saturday, taking the total toll in the four states in the last four days to 142. The number of deaths is expected to rise as over 50 people are feared trapped under mud and debris at Kavalappara in Kerala’s Malappuram following a landslide on Friday. Four deaths were reported from Kozhikode and three from Thrissur on Saturday. Nine bodies were recovered from Puthumala, near Meppadi in Wayanad district, while six bodies were found in Kavalappara.

46,400 families living in over 1,300 camps in Kerala

Nine people are reported missing in Puthumala, where hostile weather is preventing rescue operations. The India Meteorological Department has forecast that the showers will weaken in Kerala on Sunday. In its latest bulletin, a red alert for very heavy rain has been sounded only for Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts.

Around 46,400 families are now living in 1,318 relief camps across the state. Over 2,300 houses have been damaged partially and around 200 houses completely.

With water receding from the runway, Cochin International Airport is ready to resume operations and the first flight is likely to take off by Sunday noon. Southern Railway partially resumed services from Thiruvananthapuram via the Alappuzha route on Saturday. However, train traffic to northern Kerala from Shoranur continues to be disrupted as railway engineers found the tracks and a few bridges unsafe for the time being.

The rains that started on Friday evening triggered wall and house collapses, resulting in the deaths. Eight people from MP, including three children, are among the dead. The rain fury forced the evacuation of at least 10,000 people stranded in floods and paralysed train movements. At least 154 people were rescued from flooded areas in Morbi, Jamnagar and Rajkot districts. As against the average seasonal rain of 596mm till August 10, Gujarat has received 747mm rainfall so far. The weather department has warned of heavy rain on Sunday, especially in south Gujarat districts while other parts are expected to receive moderate to light rains.

In Karnataka, flood fury continued unabated on Saturday, taking the toll from 24 to 35. A red alert was sounded in seven districts of Malnad and the coastal region after the weather office predicted extremely heavy rain in the next 48 hours.

Heavy rains continued to lash the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada and Malnad — Chikkamagalur, Kodagu, Shivamogga and parts of Hassan — killing 11 persons. The overall flood situation in seven districts of North Karnataka continued to be grim as over 6 lakh cusecs of water was released from Almatti and Narayanpura dams on Saturday, flooding more villages and towns in vicinity.

