Rainfall likely to continue in Kerala, death toll in Idukki landslide rises to 17

Kerala is on a string of bad luck, the latest being the Air India plane crash in Kozhikode possibly abetted by the incessant rains in the state. To add insult to injury, the Indian Meteorological Department on Saturday said that the rains are likely to continue over Kerala.

"Rainfall likely to continue over Kerala state," the IMD tweeted giving an update on rainfall data in respect of the state from "08:30 hrs IST of August 7 to 04:30 hrs IST of August 8 (in mm)". "Kerala - Idukki (Peermade)-176 mm, Kannur(Irikkur)-173, Kasargode(Vellarikkundu)-162, Kottayam (Poonjar)-141, Kottayam (Kumarakom)-82, Kozhikode (Kakkayam)-258, Palakkad(Adakkaputhur)-117, Pathanamthitta (Seethathode)-111, Wayanad (Padinjarathara_dam)-158, Kollam (Valiyapadam)-51, Ernakulam (North Paravar)-129, Allappuzha (Kanjikkazhy)-79, Thrissur(Poringalkuthu)-79, Chalakkuddy-81," the IMD tweeted.

Moreover, the death toll in Kerala`s Idukki landslide incident has surged to 17, said Devikulam sub-collector on Friday.

"The death toll in Idukki landslide rises to 17. Twelve people have been rescued so far," said Devikulam sub-collector.

It is to be noted that a huge mound of earth fell on the "row houses" belonging to tea estate workers at Pettimudi in Rajamala following heavy rains. Most of the deceased are said to be plantation workers from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakhs to kin of the deceased.

Heavy rains in several parts of Kerala have triggered floods and landslides which have wreaked havoc in the region over the past few days. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued red and orange alert for heavy rainfall for various districts in Kerala.

It issued a red alert in Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki and Wayanad districts yesterday.

(With ANI inputs)