As the toll in floods and landslips in Kerala rose to 91 on Tuesday, authorities are on a high alert with weathermen forecasting isolated extremely heavy rainfall in the next 48 hours.
Rescue and relief operations were in full swing in flood-hit Karnataka and Kerala as rain water began receding in the affected areas across the southern states.
The combined toll, however, mounted to 145 and over six lakh people
housed in more than 2,000 relief camps in the two states.
Stay tuned to this space as bring to you live and latest updates and developments on the rain- and flood-ravaged regions of the country
15:10 | Red alert issued for Malappuram, Kozhikode, and Kannur for Wednesday
Red alert issued for Malappuram, Kozhikode
13:30 | Kerala to give Rs 10,000 to each flood affected family
The Kerala government has decided to give an immediate assistance of Rs 10,000 to each affected family, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.
Vijayan said the damage that has been caused this year is much less compared to the last years.
The state government will be asking the State Level Bankers Committee to ensure that all transactions on account of floods, be it contributions to the Chief Minister's Fund or payments to the victims, should be made free of charge.
12:45 | Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has announced that families of people who lost their lives to floods will get Rs 4 lakh each
09:15 | Due to heavy rains and water logging/landslide on Mumbai and Pune divisions of Central Railway, Miraj-Londa section on South Western Railway and Southern Railway, the following trains have been cancelled/short originated/short terminated/diverted:
Trains that have been cancelled/short originated/short terminated/diverted
08:30 | Congress leader Urmila Matondkar is right now on her way to Sangli and Kolhapur -- to be amongst the flood victims
08:15 | The IMD has issued a warning of heavy rain in Maharashtra's Vidharbha and Marathwada regions in the next 24 hours
08:00 | UN GA president condoles loss of lives
President of the 73rd session of UN General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa has expressed solidarity with India over floods wreaking havoc in southern and western parts of the country.
Espinosa's spokesperson Monica Grayley said she has "sent her condolences to the people and the Government of India after the monsoon floods in the southern and western parts of the country, which led to over 140 deaths, and hundreds of thousands of people being evacuated."
She said the president of the UN General Assembly expressed her solidarity to all of those who were affected by the natural disaster.
07:30 | A red alert has been issued for the rain-battered Malappuram and Kozhikode on Wednesday. Over 20 cm of rains are expected in these districts
KERALA
As the toll in floods and landslips in Kerala rose to 91 on Tuesday, authorities are on a high alert with weathermen forecasting isolated extremely heavy rainfall in the next 48 hours.
A total of 2.26 lakh people, who were displaced by floods and landslides, have been housed in 1,239 relief camps, officials said.
With the rain fury abating in Malappuram on Tuesday, operations were in full swing to trace those missing in a series of landslips at Kavalappara and Kottakunnu since August 8.
According to the government update at 7 pm, Tuesday, 91 people have lost their lives in the state--60 from the three northern districts of Malappuram (31), Kozhikode (17) and Wayanad (12) since August 8 and the toll is likely to go up further as 59 were still missing.
A red alert has been issued for the rain-battered Malappuram and Kozhikode on Wednesday, IMD sources said, adding over 20 cm of rains are expected in these districts.
The worst-hit Malappuram had been ravaged by massive landslides at Kavalappara and Kottakunnu on August 8 where 51 people are still missing after their homes were flattened by nature's fury.
In Wayanad, which was also ravaged by a landslide at Puthumala in Mepaddi, 12 people have died and seven are still missing.
Due to the strengthening of the low pressure in the Bay of Bengal, extremely heavy rains are expected to lash several parts of the state, Director of India Meteorological Department (IMD) at Thiruvananthapuram, K Santosh said.
KARNATAKA
"With monsoon rainfall reducing across the coastal, central, south interior and northwest regions of the state, rescue and relief operations were on war-footing to restore normalcy in about 100 talukas (local bodies) in the state's 21 districts," a revenue official told IANS here on Tuesday.
Though the death toll in rain and flood-related incidents increased to 54, with 15 people still missing in the affected areas, a whopping 6.9 lakh people were evacuated over the last 10 days in all the 21 of the state's 30 districts to safer places.
"Of the evacuated, 3.9 lakh have been sheltered to 1,151 relief camps, where food, drinking water, toilets and blankets are provided till they return to their homes," said the official.
The state and national disaster response forces also rescued 51,460 animals and shifted to safer places, while 852 perished and were washed away in the floods.
"Agriculture and horticulture crop loss is estimated to be in 4.5 lakh hectares of land, while 55,325 houses were damaged in the affected districts," said the official.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa visited the flood-affected areas in his home district of Shivamogga in the state's Malnad region.
"Yediyurappa visited Theerthahalli, Shikaripura, Shoraba and Sagar taluks to assess the damage to houses, crops, roads, and buildings by torrential rains and floods that left behind a trail of death and destruction," added the official.
MAHARASHTRA
According to the weather office, inflows decreased as rainfall in the upper Krishna river basin across the Maharashtra-Karnataka inter-state border reduced over the last two days.
Rainfall over upper Krishna Basin in Maharashtra has reduced and inflows are steadily decreasing.
"Light to moderate rainfall is likely to continue over the upper Krishna catchment areaa said a weather official.
Coastal and Malnad region received widespread to moderate rains over past 24 hours.
"As inflows into reservoirs are steadily decreasing, flood situation has improved," said the state natural disaster management centre in a statement here.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government's public health department on Tuesday said it would conduct disease-wise survey of the flood-hit areas for effective response to the situation arising out of any outbreak.
The department, in a statement issued here, said, "The aid surveys are also being conducted on the basis of diseases like fever, diarrhoea and jaundice."
There are 570 medical aid teams in the flood-hit areas, of which 196 are Kolhapur and 144 in Sangli, providing various health services, said Public Health Minister Eknath Shinde.
Health workers are asking people who suffer from diabetes, blood pressure and other illnesses to take pills daily to stay fit, the release said.
"The people staying in relief camps are also being given free pills that will last up to seven days, said Dr Pradip Vyas, principal secretary (health department).
