Kerala: Landslide hits Kundala estate in Munnar, district on alert

A heavy landslide has been reported on Friday in Munnar Kundala estate in Kerala leading to submerging a temple and two shops completely.

The landslide hit the Munnar-Vattavada route, after that the route was covered with debris of huge rocks and mud. Now the spot has been completely isolated.

However, no casualty has been reported till now, and around 175 families were shifted to a relief camp in the Pudukkudi division from their houses after being alerted about the situation.

The disastrous landslide has destroyed around one acre of agriculture in the area.

According to the president of Vattavada Panchayat Kavita V Kumar, "It is very difficult to go to the village because almost every road has been completely destroyed and we have lost electricity connectivity".

"We were informed about the landslide at midnight and somehow we reached on road within fifteen minutes. We were asked to move to the nearby school," said a native person Palaniswamy.

Kerala is experiencing continuous rains these days, which is wreaking havoc in the state. Due to the rain, life has been disturbed all around the state. 

Meanwhile, the state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday briefed the media persons about six deaths in Kerala due to heavy downpours and further urged the people to be vigilant following the Red and Orange alerts in several parts of the state.

The Chief Minister also said that the state government has prepared a united emergency cell of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and state forces emergency control room at the Kerala State disaster management authority office. He added that the state government will open control rooms in all taluks.

As per the CM, NDRF teams were deployed in Idukki, Kozhikode, Thrissur and Wayanad districts and more will reach Kerala, soon.

Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts are experiencing heavy rains. Water levels in rivers are rising in many places. Many streams overflowed.

Earlier in the month of July, the Kannur and Kasargod districts witnessed heavy showers with the rivers of Kasargod overflowing.

Several houses in Kannur collapsed and got partially damaged due to the inundation of rainwater inside. One family had to be shifted from the Payannur municipality due to the overflow.

The water levels of Kadalundi (Malapuram), Bharathapuzha (Palakkad), Shiria (Kasargod), Karavannoor (Thrissur) and Gayathripuzha (Thrissur) rivers have reached the warning level.

(ANI)