Thiruvananthapuram: The process of evacuation has gathered pace along the banks of the Chalakudy River with the water level rising in the incessant rains on Thursday.
Excess water from Sholayar and Peringalkuthu is expected to flow into the Chalakudy River in the coming hours.
Besides, Thrissur, the districts of Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Palakkad and Kannur have sounded red alerts for the day.
As the Chalakudy River flows through central Kerala, the villages and towns along Ernakulam, Thrissur and Palakkad have been put on high alert.
The Thrissur District Collector has urged people living along the Chalakkudy River to follow instructions and shift to camps.
"Those who were affected during the 2018 floods will have to shift to the camps," the district collector said.
At present, three camps are functioning in the Chalakudy Municipality and more will be opened soon, informed the authorities.
For emergency rescue, one boat per panchayat is being readied along the Chalakkudy River.'
Following the discharge of excess water from the Peechi Dam, the residents of Panancheri, Puthur Panchayats are being evacuated.
19 camps in Ernakulam
At least 768 persons are being housed at 19 camps that are operational in the Ernakulam district. The Taluk-wise split of camps in the district: Aluva (five), Paravur (eight), Muvattupuzha (four), Kothamangalam and Kunnathunadu (one each).
Water levels at Kalady, Mangalapuzha, and Marthandavarma were rising, as per the 6 pm update.
22 casualties so far
The incessant rain in the state has taken 22 lives so far. Search operations are on for two fishermen.
Amal Mathew (18) of Manarcadu, and Thottakam Dasan (70) of Thalayazham panchayath in Kottayam, S Kashinath (16) of Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta, Puthanpurakkal Babu (53) of Thrissur, Naufal (21) of Kollam are the five who lost their lives to rain fury yesterday.
Kashinath drowned in the Srivallabha temple pool in Tiruvalla, while Babu drowned at Uzhinjalpadam in Thrissur while fishing. Noufal's body was found yesterday. He was reported missing.
Latha (55), a former teacher from Vellarikundu in Kasaragod, had been missing since yesterday. However, her body was found at the Plachikara check dam on Thursday.
Two bodies were found in the sea near Chettuva Harbour in Chavakkad. A helicopter that had been deployed to search for the missing fishermen found their bodies floating in the sea about 3.5 km from the harbour. By the time the rescue boat arrived, the bodies had washed away.
Though a red alert was issued in 10 districts on Wednesday morning, it was withdrawn around the afternoon.
Red alert in 8 districts
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday sounded a red alert in several districts after rain intensified across Kerala.
According to IMD, a red alert was sounded in Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad and Kannur, while an orange alert was sounded in Malappuram, Wayanad, Kasaragod, Kozhikode and Kollam. Thiruvananthapuram remains under yellow alert.
The weather office has predicted isolated very heavy rains over the state till Sunday due to the prevalence of a cyclonic circulation over the central-west Bay of Bengal, near southern Andhra Pradesh and northern Tamil Nadu.