Heavy rains in Kerala: normal life disrupted, 20 trains cancelled

Kochi: Incessant rains lashed Kochi city and its outskirts on Thursday, flooding low-lying areas and throwing normal life out of gear.
With the overnight downpour extending throughout the day, the Ernakulam Junction  railway station and the KSRTC depot were waterlogged. Services had to be cancelled as at least 20 trains to and from Ernakulam have been cancelled or terminated at other stations, and three express trains were diverted via Kottayam.

“The heavy rains resulted in signal failure. Trains like Kozhikode-Thiruvananthapuram Janshatabdi, Ernad Express, Maveli Express, Rajdhani Express and Intercity Express were diverted via Kottayam. Four passenger trains were cancelled. Many other trains were short-terminated or partially cancelled. Most trains originating from South railway station were rescheduled and started from Town station, Edapally or Thrippunithura stations,” a railway official said.

Low-lying areas such as Udaya Colony, Judges Avenue and Azad Road were flooded, with rain-water seeping into homes.

Ernakulam district received the most rainfall with West Kochi recording 19 cm and Ernakulam South 17 cm during the day. Two relief camps have been opened and a round- the-clock control room has been opened at the collectorate. The Met department has warned of more rains and winds with speeds of over 60 kmph, a statement from the district administration said.

“Most of the city’s roads were inundated with the canal water flooding onto roads and residential areas. There were heavy traffic jams in Salim Rajan flyover, Thammanam-Pullepady road, Tevara and the like. The canals were overflowing and blocked with mud and waste. The situation is only going to get worse with Kochi Corporation failing to take precautionary measures ahead of the rainy season,” said EDRAK (Ernakulam district residents associations' apex council) secretary N P Varghese.

Construction activity on the metro was stopped from the morning as a precautionary measure.

Rains likely to continue today

The unprecedented rains under the influence of a low pressure in the Arabian Sea may cause heavy rains in Ernakulam and districts in North Kerala on Friday too, according to the forecast by the Indian Meteorological Department.

Although Ernakulam city had witnessed a respite from the rains in the afternoon, heavy rains exceeding 7 cms that has been forecast in a few places in the state is likely to keep the authorities on their toes in the district. The MET department has also forecast the possibility of very heavy rainfall exceeding 13 cms at isolated places in the state till Saturday morning. Ernakulam district has recorded the highest rainfall in the state on Thursday with West Kochi registering 19 cms of rain and Ernakulam South junction 17 cms.

Although the district has received copious rains in the past two days, it still has a 12 per cent deficit in terms of the summer rains.

According to the MET department, the normal rainfall starting from March 1 to May 7 in the district should have been 182.7 mm. Instead the district has so far received only 160.5 mm as on May 7, according to the MET department. Rains in the past two days however is expected to wipe out the deficit.