The total death toll due to the floods because ongoing monsoon in Kerala has climbed to 77 amid a report of threatening rainfall in new areas. The floods ensued landslides and bridge collapses.

Authorities in Kerala have put local agencies on the highest alert level as the state suffers due to the worst monsoon in nearly a century.

“All districts are under red alert as more rains are expected in the next 24 hours,” an official from the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority told AFP on Thursday.

Rains have been particularly severe since August 8 and as a result the state of Kerala by the monsoon every year resulting in floods in hundreds of villages and prompting the authorities to suspend flights in as well as out of the region.

Not less than 60,000 people have taken shelter in government organized relief camps and the army and navy have been asked for help to assist with rescue operations, airlifting people to hospital, according to the official.

As per the local media reports, there was a much higher toll and cited several ongoing efforts to reach many flooded areas.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that he was “praying for the safety and well-being of the people of Kerala” and has ordered the Defence Ministry to “further step up the rescue and relief operations across the state.”

Due to the heavy rains and resultant flooding, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office announced on Twitter that Kochi International Airport would be kept closed until Saturday.

The Chief Minister held emergency meetings with high profile rescue officials in the state late on Wednesday and discussed the whole situation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A special request of the deployment of additional personnel from the Indian army, navy and other emergency forces was made by the chief minister. The personnel were already working across the state which is famed for its pristine palm-lined beaches and tea plantations.

“Our state is in the midst of an unprecedented flood havoc,” Vijayan said earlier this week. “The calamity has caused immeasurable misery and devastation.”

Authorities have opened the gates of at least 34 reservoirs as water was crossing dangerous levels.

The office of the Chief Minister on Wednesday said that the concerned authorities were also very much worried about the rising water levels in the massive Mullaperiyar dam and stressed upon the releasing of water from the reservoir and the same was communicated to the officials.

An approximate area of 10,000 kilometres of roads and thousands of homes have been destroyed or damaged across the southern state of Kerala resulting in the flooding of hundreds of villages, officials said.

“We have asked all airlines, domestic and foreign, to reschedule their Cochin flights either from Trivandrum or from Calicut,” Suresh Prabhu, India’s civil aviation minister said on Twitter.

“For international flights, this will require special dispensation which has been granted considering the emergency DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) is coordinating,” he added.

Not less than one million foreign tourists visited the state last year alone, as per the official data.

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