Kerala, coastal Karnataka, Goa, and coastal Maharashtra are battling a deluge after heavy rainfall in the past few days while a depression over Madhya Pradesh progressed eastward. Heavy rains have also lashed Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
At least 28 people have been killed so far in rain-related incidents in Kerala and more than 22,000 people have been moved to 315 flood relief camps across the state as of Friday morning. The Cochin International Airport has suspended operations till 3 pm on Sunday following a rise in water levels in Periyar river and an adjacent canal.
In Maharashtra, National Disaster Response Force teams are conducting rescue operations in areas such as Kolhapur and Sangli. In Palghar, a number of roads have been washed away, disrupting access to essential services.
Here are the top updates:
7.55 pm: Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Deve Gowda asks Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare Karnataka floods as a national disaster of severe nature.
7.53 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says 28 people died in Kerala while 27 are injured and seven missing due to heavy downpour in the state, reports ANI.
7.50 pm: Maharashtra government faces criticism for an order, which fixes a criteria for those affected due to floods to seek assistance, PTI reports. The order, issued on Thursday, stated that financial assistance will be provided if the area is under water for over two days, and if houses are completely washed away. The Congress party hits out at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, calls the order a “cruel joke”.
7.38 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announces Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the families of those killed in rain-related incidents in the state, PTI reports. “I have directed the officials that Rs 5 lakh should be given to the family members of those killed in the flood within 24 hours,” he says. “In the State, in all, 12 people have died [in rain-related incidents].”
6.31 pm: Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan faces flak for posing for selfies during a tour of the flood-hit regions, reports IANS.
6.28 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa tells Maharashtra Chief Minister that water discharge from Karnataka’s Almatti Dam has increased to 4,80,000 cusecs, according to ANI.
6.25 pm: Officials evacuate around 1,000 locals from catchment areas of Sardar Sarovar Dam in Madhya Pradesh’s Barwani and Dhar districts. A Narmada Valley Development Authority official tells PTI the river was flowing 7 metres above danger level on Friday afternoon.
6.19 pm: Southern Railway suspends operations on two routes, cancels over 20 trains due to floods in Palakkad division of Kerala, reports PTI
5.04 pm: Rescue operation is under way after at least 30 families were reported missing due to a landslide on Thursday at Kavalappara in Malappuram district of Kerala, ANI reports.
4.42 pm: The Shiradi Ghat stretch of the Bengaluru-Mangaluru Highway is closed after landslides near Yettinahalla village of Karnataka’s Gadag district, reports The Hindu.
4.14 pm: Holiday declared in both private and government schools and colleges in Dakshina Kannada, Uttar Kannada, Raichur, Bagalkot, Belagavi and Chikkodi along with 12 other districts of Karnataka due to torrential rain, ANI reports.
4.11 pm: Ten teams of the Indian Army from Mumbai conduct on-ground rescue operations in Kolhapur, Sangli and Raigad in Maharashtra, reports ANI.
3.04 pm: Southern Railway officials say all trains from Ernakulam to Kozhikode in Kerala stand cancelled due to flooding of railway tracks in the Palakkad division, The Indian Express reports. This will affect those travelling from Kochi to the Malabar region.
2.56 pm: A family of five killed in Bhagamandala area of Kodagu district in Karnataka after their home collapsed, The Hindu reports. NDRF personnel, carrying out rescue operations, confirmed they all belonged to the same family.
2.50 pm: All bases under Southern Air Command are on high alert due to the weather condition in Kerala. Twelve helicopters are on standby at Sulur airbase and the airforce is working closely with the state government and other personnel, according to The Indian Express.
2.45 pm: Kerala chief minister will go for a review of the flood situation on an Indian Air Force helicopter around 4 pm, reports The Indian Express.
2.42 pm: “The states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala are main areas of concern now and maximum deployments of NDRF teams are in these states,” says SN Pradhan, the director general of the NDRF to ANI. “In Karnataka, we are watching closely the districts of Belgaum, Kodagu and Uttara Kannada.” He says the overall situation in Kerala has not become worse apart from a landslide in Wayanad due to heavy rain.
2.29 pm: The Indian Coast Guard has sent 16 teams so far for rescue operations. They have rescued 500 people so far, The Indian Express reports.
2.23 pm: Train services between Kayankulam and Ernakulam through Alappuzha will remain suspended until further notice in light of unsafe weather conditions, says Southern Railway, according to The Indian Express.
2.16 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says a 24-hour control room has been set up at the state police headquarters for those affected due to rain. The number for the emergency response service is 112. The system is connected with all control room vehicles in Kerala.
2.11 pm: A Defence spokesperson says that the Indian Navy is prepared for any assistance required. “In view of prevailing situation, the Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy is all geared up and ready to provide any assistance to the civil administration as and when required,” the spokesperson tells PTI.
1.47 pm: Teams from the Coast Guard conduct rescue operations in Karassery and Kozhikode, according to The Indian Express.
1.40 pm: Kerala State Electricity Board cautions against posting fake news on social media on shutters of major dams being opened, The Indian Express reports. The board says there is under 30% water level in reservoirs of dams, including Sholayar, Idukki and Pamba, and that there is no need for the shutters to be opened.
1.32 pm: NDRF personnel distribute food items among those affected due to floods in Bhilawadi town of Sangli, ANI reports.
1.26 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa says the Centre will provide all assistance to the state, reports PTI. “The Centre will extend all assistance... from financial point of view... they have also assured to help in other means,” he says.
1.22 pm: A helicopter will drop relief material in flood-hit areas of Sangli district. It may also be used to rescue stranded locals, a senior official tells PTI.
1.12 pm: The Kerala chief minister says red alert has been issued in nine districts in north and Central Kerala, while three districts in Central Kerala are under orange alert. The remaining two southern districts are under yellow alert.
1.10 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has told reporters that 22 people have died in heavy rains in the last three days, reports PTI. Vijayan chaired a high-level review meeting in the morning.
1.06 pm: The Navy has opened its airport in Kochi for civilian aircraft operations, reports ANI, since the Cochin International Airport will remain closed till Sunday 3 pm.
12.54 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister Yediyurappa has conducted an aerial survey of flood-hit regions in Jamakhandi in Bagalkot district, where several villages are under water because of rise in outflow from reservoirs across the Krishna and the Ghataprabha, reports The Indian Express.
12.41 pm: The National Disaster Rescue Force saved 60 people in Puthumala, near Meppadi in Wayanad district, after a landslide hit the area on Thursday, reports ANI.
12.38 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the situation in the state’s western regions will improve after Karnataka releases 5 lakh cusecs of water from Almatti dam, reports Hindustan Times. The government will not shy away from announcing a national disaster in the state if the situation does not improve, he adds.
12.33 pm: Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s constituency Wayanad is innundated. He has spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi “seeking all possible assistance for the people severely affected by the floods and landslides in the state, especially in Wayanad”. The Congress MP says Modi has assured assistance.
12.30 pm: Traffic movement on Pattambi bridge in Palakkad district has been stopped, reports ANI. The Bharathappuzha river is overflowing.
12.26 pm: Army personnel have been deployed in the districts of Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Ernakulam in Kerala, reports The Indian Express. Two Army columns are on standby at a military station. The Pangode military station in Thiruvananthapuram and the Defence Security Corps in Kannur are coordinating the relief operations.
11 am: In Gujarat, Ahmedabad and the districts of Aravalli, Dang, Tapi, Dahod, Bharuch, Chhota Udepur, Panchmahal, are receiving heavy rainfall, reports The Indian Express. The Met Department has issued a four-day heavy rainfall warning in the state. An alert has also been issued in the central districts of Panchmahal, Dahod, Chhota Udepur, Vadodara, Narmada, Ahmedabad and Anand.
10.55 am: Train services has been disrupted in Kerala with Indian Railways informing that 12 trains have been cancelled, reports The New Indian Express. All schools across the state have been closed.
10.52 am: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has said he will discuss the release of water from the Koyna reservoir with his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis, reports The News Minute. The chief minister said efforts are underway to avoid any calamity in the region. At least nine people have died in the state, according to ANI.
10.50 am: Some 150 families have been evacuated in four tehsils of Goa following heavy rains and release of water from Tillari dam on the Goa-Maharashtra border, reports The Indian Express.
10.45 am: The Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party have called off their statewide yatras following the floods in western Maharashtra, reports The Indian Express. Both parties announce that their parliamentarians and state legislators will donate a month’s salary to flood victims.
10.42 am: Four members of a family killed at Edavanna in Malappuram district after their house collapses, taking the rain-related death toll in the state to 12, reports PTI.
10.40 am: Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation says the route from Mysuru to Madikeri, and Mysuru to HD Kote have been shut down, reports The Indian Express.
10.37 am: The India Meteorological Department has predicted heavy to very heavy rains in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Kerala in the next 24 hours, reports The Indian Express.
10.35 am: Six Air India Express flights have been rescheduled because of operational reasons, reports ANI.
10.32 am: The Cochin International Airport has suspended operations till 3 pm on Sunday. The airport was earlier shut till Friday morning. The Kerala government has evacuated 22,165 persons into 315 flood relief camps as of Friday morning. A flood warning is in place for all districts except Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam.
Read more here:
Kerala rain: Over 22,000 people in flood relief camps, Kochi airport shut till Sunday
10.30 am: On Thursday, the Karnataka government appealed to citizens to “render a helping hand” and contribute to the Chief Minister’s Natural Calamity Relief Fund following “devastating flood situation in 15 districts” that has killed at least nine people.
In Tamil Nadu, the Avalanche region in the Nilgiris
received 820 mm of rain in a 24-hour period till Thursday morning, the highest in the state’s history.
10.25 am: Here is a recap of the havoc wreaked by floods and heavy rain on Thursday: