Situation improving in many parts of Ker,KTK, toll now 145,

After days of incessant rains, the situation improved in many parts of Kerala and Karnataka on Tuesday with water receding in affected areas, as the combined toll mounted to 145 and over six lakh people housed in more than 2,000 relief camps in the two states.

As the toll in floods and landslips in Kerala rose to 91 on Tuesday, authorities are on a high alert with weathermen forecasting isolated extremely heavy rainfall in the next 48 hours.

A total of 2.26 lakh people, who were displaced by floods and landslides, have been housed in 1,239 relief camps, officials said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention to protect both the life and livelihood of the people in his Lok Sabha constituency Wayanad, ravaged by floods and landslides.

With the rain fury abating in Malappuram on Tuesday, operations were in full swing to trace those missing in a series of landslips at Kavalappara and Kottakunnu since August 8.

According to the government update at 7 pm, Tuesday, 91 people have lost their lives in the state--60 from the three northern districts of Malappuram (31), Kozhikode (17) and Wayanad (12) since August 8 and the toll is likely to go up further as 59 were still missing.

A red alert has been issued for the rain-battered Malappuram and Kozhikode on Wednesday, IMD sources said, adding over 20 cm of rains are expected in these districts.

The worst-hit Malappuram had been ravaged by massive landslides at Kavalappara and Kottakunnu on August 8 where 51 people are still missing after their homes were flattened by nature's fury.

In Wayanad, which was also ravaged by a landslide at Puthumala in Mepaddi, 12 people have died and seven are still missing.

Due to the strengthening of the low pressure in the Bay of Bengal, extremely heavy rains are expected to lash several parts of the state, Director of India Meteorological Department (IMD) at Thiruvananthapuram, K Santosh said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan toured the worst affected districts of Malappuram and Wayanad, where 43 people have died in landslides
In a Facebook post, the congress leader praised the flood-hit people of his Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, saying the bravery and dignity displayed by them in the face of tragedy was "truly humbling."