Tag : Pathanamthitta

Thiruvananthapuram: Red alert was withdrawn from Kerala and Orange alert issued in 11 districts of the state by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday, indicating a decrease in the intensity of the rains hitting the southern state. The IMD at 12 PM withdrew the Red alert from the state and issued Orange alert for the day in all the districts barring Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Kasaragod where Yellow alerts have been issued. The Red alert issued in the state for August 4 was withdrawn while Orange alert was issued in 12 districts for Thursday, according to an IMD district rainfall forecast issued for Kerala at 10 AM. During the day, the state government, in a release, said that water in six dams -- Ponmudi, Lower Periyar, Kallarkutty, Erattayar and Kundala in Idukki and Moozhiyar in Pathanamthitta districts -- in the state have reached red alert storage levels. The water in Idukki and Peringalkuthu dams have reached blue and yellow storage alert levels, respectively, it further said. Two deaths, of a student and a 75-year-old man, were reported from Kottayam district during the day. According to officials, the student drowned while bathing in a stream with his friends and the man had gone missing when he went to take a bath in a nearby waterbody and his body was found later. Meanwhile, the bodies of two fishermen, who went missing off the coast of Thrissur near Chetua harbour on Tuesday, were found two nautical miles away in the sea by the Indian Coast Guard during its search operations. As rains continued in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed that arrangements be made for the safety of tourists affected or stranded due to the heavy rainfall in various parts of the state. The directive by the Ch ...