Even as heavy rain continued to lash several parts of Kerala on Saturday, the rain-related death toll rose to 44 with over 1,08,138 people from 29,997 families have been shifted to 988 relief camps in the State.
According to the official sources, 11 people died in Waynad district, 10 each in Malappuram and Kozhikode districts, 4 in Idukki district, 3 in Kollam district, 2 each in Alappuzha, Thrissur and Kannur in the rain related incidents since the last three days.
Meanwhile, talking to newspersons here, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said 80 landslides were reported till today leading to missing of several people in the State.
There were unconfirmed reports that 41 are still missing after the landslides, he added.
Announcing that the shutters of Banasurasagar dam will be opened this afternoon, he said heavy rains continued in the catchment areas and cautioned people living in the downstream to move to safer places in the wake of releasing water through Karaman Canal.
Nine substations of KSEB have been shutdown and four power houses were closed for repair works, disupting power supply to 15.6 lakh connections. Efforts were on to restore the power supply, Vijayan added.
Various agencies including Army, Navy, Air Force, NDRF, Coast Guard, Police, Fire Force were being pressed for rescue operations, the Chief Minister said, adding food packets are being dropped by helicopters in devastated areas.
Directions were given to speed up the process of post-mortem of the flood victims, he said. He also sought the cooperation of experienced and trained people for rescue operations and asked people to obey the advices of the authorities in taking precautionary measures to avoid mishaps.
Criticising people speading fake news through social media creating panic among the common people, he said one such fake news was no fuel in petrol pumps. Vijayan also asked social media to keep away from circulating disinformation.
(UNI)
