Mumbai, July 13 : Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan's extended family on Twitter dropped by over 424,000, while Shah Rukh Khan's followers depleted by over 362,141 and Salman Khan lost 340,884 followers, among other film celebrities as a result of the 'sanitisation' of the micro-blogging platform.

Twitter decided to sanitise the platform by removing inactive and locked accounts. So, a lot of popular names from the film industry ended up with reduced followers.

SocialBlade.com that tracks the number of Twitter followers on a daily basis, had a tab on the count, and said Aamir Khan lost 316,900-plus followers, while Priyanka Chopra lost 354,830 followers and Deepika Padukone lost 288,298.

The micro-blogging platform was yet to come up with an official statement on this.

Twitter earlier this week announced it will remove locked accounts -- which are disabled owing to suspicious activity -- from follower counts across profiles globally. The locked accounts are different from spam or bots and in most cases, these accounts were created by real people.

The move is likely to affect high-profile users the most.

Celebrities like Divya Dutta, Onir and Apurva Asrani reacted on losing followers overnight.

Divya, who currently has a following of 493,000 fans on the micro-blogging website, tweeted on Thursday night: "Aiyyo, what happened Twitter... Sudden drop of thousands of followers in one hour!"

Filmmaker Onir wrote: "I just realised I lost 1,000 overnight... Same pinch... Laugh out loud Twitter India. What's the secret?"

Writer-editor Apurva Asrani tweeted: "I lost 500 followers overnight. Wondering if this is the clean up of bots that Twitter mentioned earlier."

 

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Thiruvananthapuram: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday issued red alert for four districts in Kerala - Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, and Alappuzha - forecasting extremely heavy rainfall until May 21.

As heavy rains pose potential hazards, the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has advised people to remain vigilant.

With expectations of heavy rainfall within a short timeframe, there's a risk of flash floods and urban waterlogging, particularly in low-lying areas. Landslides may also be triggered by prolonged rainfall. In light of this, authorities are urging residents, especially those in hilly and coastal regions, to exercise caution and stay alert.

The IMD has also sounded orange alert for Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam district until Tuesday.

A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rain of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while an orange alert means very heavy rain (6 cm to 20 cm). A yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 and 11 cm.

Earlier in the day, the Idukki District Collector ordered a ban on night travel through the hilly areas of the district from Sunday until the red and orange alerts are withdrawn.

''Strict instructions have been issued to the District Superintendent of Police, Sub Divisional Magistrates, Regional Transport Officers, and Tehsildars to implement the ban effectively,'' an official statement said.

Mining activities have been banned in Ernakulam and Kottayam districts in view of the forecast for heavy rain.

The southern district of Thiruvananthapuram experienced heavy rains on Saturday night, leading to waterlogging in the city and its suburbs, affecting normal life.

Visuals aired by news channels showed that houses and shops were flooded in some parts. Due to the non-completion of the Smart City Road, waterlogging has worsened in many places. In some areas, canals crisscrossing the capital city and its suburbs overflowed.

The affected people alleged that the lack of pre-monsoon cleaning of canals and drainage systems was the reason for the waterlogging in the capital city and its suburbs.