Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is likely to receive isolated rain accompanied by thunder and lightning today. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning for gusty winds with speed reaching 30-40 Kmph at isolated places till Tuesday. Residents are advised to exercise caution.
The IMD issued a yellow alert in the three districts of Patahnamthitta, Alappuazha and Ernakulam on Monday. The weather is projected to intensify midweek. The Met department forecasts heavy rainfall in localised areas of the southern districts and central Kerala on Wednesday and Thursday. Consequently, a yellow alert has been declared for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, and Idukki districts on indicating the need for heightened vigilance on these days.
The south-west monsoon is expected to reach the State by June 1 or 2.
Centre's 200 cr to tackle waterlogging in TVM
The union government has offered Rs 200 crore to Kerala under the Urban Mitigation Programme for the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram, which witnessed waterlogging during the recent pre-monsoon showers. This was informed by Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Develpment, Electronics & Technology and the BJP's Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha candidate, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, through a social media post.
In a post on 'X', Chandrasekhar urged the Left government in Kerala to submit the proposal for Thiruvananthapuram to the Centre by the end of this month. "In yet another gesture of extending helping hand to #Kerala, PM @narendramodiji's Govt offers assistance for Rs 200 Cr project under the Urban Flood Mitigation Programme for #Thiruvananthapuram. "The @pinarayivijayan government must now act - by submitting a proposal for Thiruvananthapuram. The deadline for this proposal is the end of May'24," he wrote. Chandrasekhar said this programme aims to solve the problem of floods caused by heavy rains, "which wreak havoc on the people of Thiruvananthapuram."
HC directs Kochi authorities to clear drains
With pre-monsoon rains leading to inundation and the actual monsoon just round the corner, the Kerala High Court on Friday directed that all drains in areas prone to flooding in the port-city of Kochi be cleared of debris to ensure free flow of water through them during the rainy season.
The direction was issued by Justice Devan Ramanchandran who said that it was "unfortunate" that the court has to intervene every year in the issue of flooding of many parts of the city during the rainy season. The court noted that the heavy rains that hit the state in the past few days led to many parts of the city being inundated. "...these have been identified broadly as being 15 hot spots," it said. It also pointed out that there were other areas where there were defects in drainage mapping leading to water not flowing properly and requiring the use of pumps. "... though this court has been attempting to rectify this in the last couple of years, not much change has happened. Thus, the city faces inundation every time heavy rains hit it," the high court said. It said that the city can be saved from severe flooding and it requires that the drains be kept clean to the extent possible. It said that the high-powered committee constituted by the high court must look into all the aspects and ensure that the cleaning of drains and the clearing of debris from areas identified as hotspots is carried out "on an imperative basis". The court ordered the committee to ensure that the municipal corporation clears all the drains and that water flow is smooth in all the hotspots already identified, before the next date of hearing of the matter on May 27.
