Nonstop rain likely in 5 districts today

Incessant rain has been predicted for Sunday in Wayanad, Malappuram, Palakkad, Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts.

Thiruvananthapuram/Pathanamthitta: Incessant rain has been predicted for Sunday in Wayanad, Malappuram, Palakkad, Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts. Fishermen have been advised to stay home as the sea is expected to get rough. The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) has asked all district collectors to remain alert.

A low-pressure system on the Arabian Sea intensified by 2.30 pm on Saturday, 730 km northwest of Lakshadweep. By midnight it intensified further. The cyclone is predicted to hit the coastal areas of Oman and Yemen on Sunday.

Kerala, meanwhile, is expected to see the early arrival of Thulavarsham or northeast monsoon by Monday. That will bring copious rain until Friday. The season normally begins mid-October, but the presence of heavy clouds on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu coastlines are seen to have ushered it in earlier.

As the rainfall is expected to raise water levels in reservoirs, the government is considering limiting it to 2,385 feet in Idukki, the biggest dam. The level stood at 2,387.38 ft at 6 pm on Saturday.

Meanwhile, 150 Tamil Nadu-registered fishing boats that had set off from Kochi have been traced off Oman. They have been advised to seek safer locations. Tamil Nadu government is in touch with Oman to help the boats reach the coast.

Fisheries director S Venkitesapathi said only a single country boat that had been in the sea for several days was yet to return to the coast.

A special co-ordinating cell has been formed with Additional Chief Secretary in charge of disaster management, P H Kurien, at the helm. It will include officials from SDMA and the Central National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

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