Kerala floods: Schools, colleges to remain closed tomorrow in parts of Ernakulam

Of the total deaths, 11 people died in Idukki district, five in Malappuram district, three in Wayanad, two in Kannur and one in Kozhikode. Four teams of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 45 personnel each, have left Chennai for Kerala to assist the rescue and relief operations. An Inter-Ministerial Central Team of the central government is also visiting flood-affected areas in Kerala, while Army troops are being mobilised from Bengaluru for deployment in the rain-battered southern state.

Due to a steady rise in the water level in the Idukki reservoir, one of the shutters of the Cheruthoni dam, one of the largest arch dams in Asia, was opened as part of a trial run. The shutter has been opened 50 cms to release the water into the Cheruthoni river