Showers give way to sunshine in Palakkad

But about 7,000 people are still in camps

People began returning to their houses when showers gave way for sunshine on Sunday.

Six relief camps were wound up, reducing the number of camps to 68. About 6,900 people displaced by the floods continue to be in the relief camps set up at Palakkad, Pattambi, Ottappalam, Mannarkkad, Alathur, and Chittur taluks. The district received an average 59.55 mm rain in 24 hours since Saturday. On Friday, the district had got 145.78 mm rain, and on Thursday it was 297.05 mm rain. District administration officials said the situation was safe.

KSRTC buses resumed services to different places from Palakkad. The services to Kozhikode were diverted via Manjeri as Perinthalmanna-Malappuram Road remained submerged at Keeramkundu near Malappuram.

Bridge closed

The bridge across the Bharatapuzha had been closed after floodwaters began to batter it. However, the services to Coimbatore, Thrissur, and Nelliampathy were normal. The train services to Thiruvananthapuram and Coimbatore routes resumed on Sunday. But the service between Shoranur and Kozhikode remained disrupted.

The dams in the district began lowering their shutters as the inflow into the reservoirs reduced. Dam managers said that only water in proportion to the inflow was being discharged through the shutters of Kanjirapuzha, Mangalam, and Walayar dams. The three shutters of the Kanjirapuzha dam had risen to one m.

They were lowered to five cm on Sunday. The shutters of the Mangalam dam were lowered to 20 cm from 30 cm. The shutters of Walayar dam were lowered to two cm.

Minister for the Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes A.K. Balan will visit the flood-affected areas in Thrithala, Pattambi, and Shoranur on Monday. He will hold a review meeting of the situation at Thrithala TB at 11 a.m., and another at Pattambi TB at 2 p.m. State Human Rights Commission member K. Mohan Kumar postponed his sitting scheduled to be held at Attappady on Tuesday.

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