Kerala is set for another bout of intense rains in the upcoming northeast monsoon spell. Severe rain is already lashing several parts of Kerala.
Heavy downpour has forced the authorities to open 12 dams in the state, including the Malampuzha dam.
Adding to the worries, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had warned that a low pressure area, similar to the one that caused the mighty August floods, could form over Southeast Arabian Sea on Friday.
The IMD said the depression could develop into a severe depression or a cyclonic storm soon. The state weather agency also said that by Friday it will be able to graph out the direction in which the cyclone may move in the coming days. If the August depression was near the Odisha coast, the new one has been predicted further south, near Sri Lanka.
Heavy rain lashed parts of Kerala on Thursday, including the high-range areas of Munnar, rekindling fears of the disastrous August deluge. When the day ended on October 4, Alappuzha recorded the maximum rain at 122.8 mm.
On Friday, the hilly district of Idukki continues to be on red alert. The districts of Palakkad and Thrissur, that received heavy rainfall on Thursday, have been taken off the alert radar. Instead, Malappuram has been warned about intense rains that could pour down as much as 12-20 cm in 24 hours.
Dams opened
Neyyar, Aruvikkara and Peppara dams in Thiruvananthapuram; Mattupetti, Malankara and Ponmudi dams in Idukki; Peringalkuthu, Chimmini, Peechi and Sholayar dams in Thrissur and the Mangalam and Pothundi dams, apart from the Malampuzha dam—all three in Palakkad—have been opened for the calibrated release of water.
On Friday, the Thenmala Parappar dam at Kollam was opened raising its shutters by 5 cms each.
Kakkayam dam in Kozhikode, Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad and Anathodu dam in Pathanamthitta will be opened on Friday. The shutters of Malankara, Ponmudi and Mattupetti dams will be raised further on Friday.
Overnight rainfall in Palakkad also caused a rapid rise in the water level of dams. Shutters of the Malampuzha dam were opened in the afternoon as the water level crossed 114.03 metres. Four shutters were opened 30 cm each and a warning has been issued to the people living along the Bharatapuzha and Kalpathipuzha.
The Cheruthoni dam, a part of the Idukki reservoir, is currently 15 feet below its full reservoir level of 2,395 ft. On Friday, the Kerala State Electricity Board said that it will raise one shutter of the dam by 5 centimetres, releasing 50,000 litres of water per second.
