Kerala rains subside, Idukki waters recede
Idukki (Kerala) Aug 11 : Thousands living around the Idukki dam and in Ernakulam and Thrissur heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday as the heavy rains predicted in Kerala did not happen and as a result the Idukki dam waters ravaging the area over the last few days subsided.
"The rains have slowed down in and around the Idukki dam since last night and hence the water level in the dam has also come down," State Power Minister M.M. Mani said.
"So far things are fine and everything is going as planned. The water that came down the five floodgates, barring at Cheruthoni, has not caused any major crisis," added Mani, who is monitoring the situation from here.
Cheruthoni is the nearest town to the Idamalayar dam and with water gushing down the spillway for the first time in 26 years, there was heavy flooding in the area.
The Cheruthoni bridge continued to be submerged. It had come under severe stress with huge trees that have been uprooted coming and hitting the bridge.
The water level at the Idukki dam was now at 2,401 feet after it came down on Friday night as the intensity of the rains decreased.
On Saturday, the inflow into the dam stood at 6,00,000 litres of water per second, while the outflow through the floodgates is 7.50 lakh litres per second.
Authorities on Friday expected that parts of Ernakulam and Thrissur districts would be submerged following the opening of all five floodgates.
However, this did not happen as the dam water entered the tributaries of the Periyar river in a systematic manner.
According to informed sources, if the water level in the dam comes down to 2,400 feet, it was likely to bring down the outflow through the five shutters as well -- to around 5,00,000 litres per second.
On Saturday morning, a team led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan accompanied by Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, State Forest Minister P. Raju, Chief Secretary Tom Jose and Kerala Police Chief Loknath Behra took off in a helicopter from Thiruvananthapuram to survey the worst affected districts.
Even though their first stop was planned at Idukki, Vijayan wrote in his Facebook post that due to bad weather conditions at the landing area in Kattapana, they have been forced to travel to Wayanad.
The floods have claimed 27 lives so far.
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Kerala govt to declare as ''dead'' people missing in Wayanad landslide
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 15 (PTI): The Kerala government has decided to declare as ‘deceased’ the people who went missing in the devastating landslide in Wayanad last year which will help provide compensation to their families.
The decision comes as a huge relief to the kin of people who were reported missing in the disaster.
As per a government order issued on Tuesday, local, district and state level committees will be formed including revenue department officials to examine the list of missing people.
The local level committee includes the panchayat secretary, village officer and station house officer of respective police stations. The committee will prepare a list of missing people and submit it to the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) for scrutiny.
The DDMA will examine the list and forward it to the state-level committee with its suggestions. The state level committee, comprising additional chief secretary (home) and principal secretaries of revenue and local self-government, will examine the list and forward it to the government, the order said.
The government will subsequently issue an order declaring them as dead and providing ex-gratia to their close relatives.
According to official record, 263 people were dead and 35 people were reported missing in the landslides that occurred on July 30 last year. The order directs the local level committee to closely examine the FIRs filed in connection with the missing people in the respective police stations.
The tahsildar or sub-divisional magistrate should conduct a detailed enquiry about the missing person and the findings will be published on the official website and government gazette.
A 30-day period will be given for filing any objections, after which the list of missing people will be published and death certificates issued to their immediate relatives, the order said.
