Monsoon toll rises to 53 in Kerala

With the recovery of bodies of four more victims of a landslide, the toll rose to 53 today in rain related incidents in Kerala since the onset of the South West monsoon late last month.

The bodies -- including that of two children -- were recovered from under the rubble at Kattipara in Kozhikode district, two days after the landslide occurred, official sources said.

With the recovery of four more bodies, the toll in the landslide incident alone had gone up to 12.

Search operation was on for the two more persons who were missing after the landslide, they said.

State minister T P Ramakrishnan, who visited Kattipara, said the government would extend help to the victims for re-construction houses and purchase of land.

More than 25,000 people affected by the incessant rains had been shifted torelief camps set up in different parts of the state, official sources said.

Traffic remained disrupted on the Thamarassery road connecting Kozhikode-Waynad and the work on clearing of debris was still progressing.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asked his Karnataka counterpart H D Kumaraswamy to repair the damaged Perumbadi-Makkudam road in the Thalassery-Mysore interstate road, traffic on which has been banned.

In a letter, Vijayan pointed out that instead of banning vehicular traffic, steps should be taken to repair and make it suitable for travel.

People from the state were facing problem as Manadavadi has been cut off due to the ban, he said.

Meanwhile, authorities today issued an alert with the water level in Peppara dam in Thiruvananthapuram District touching 107.20 meters against its maximum of 107.5 metres, saying its shutters would be opened any time.

People living on the downstream have been asked to be on alert over the situation.