Thiruvananthapuram:

The India Meteorological Department on Tuesday issued a red alert for the mountain district of Wayanad — which has been rocked by landslides triggered by incessant rains — and all the northern districts of Kerala, indicating that extremely heavy rainfall is expected in these regions.

While the IMD has issued a red alert for eight districts, including Wayanad, an orange alert was issued for Tuesday for Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam districts.

A red alert indicates heavy-to-extremely heavy rain of over 20 cm in 24 hours. An orange alert means very heavy rain of 11 cm to 20 cm, and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 cm and 11 cm.

The red alert was issued for Tuesday in Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts in northern Kerala, as well as Idukki and Thrissur in central Kerala.

The Met office has issued an orange alert for Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts for Wednesday as well.

Meanwhile, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod district authorities have declared a holiday for all educational institutions including the professional colleges in view of the heavy rain prediction.

Train services to and from northern Kerala has been disrupted due to flooding and trees being uprooted at many places along the tracks.

Due to waterlogging and heavy rains, at least 10 trains were fully or partially rescheduled in Kerala.

The Railways said many trains, including the ‘16305’ Ernakulam – Kannur Intercity Express and the ‘16791’ Tirunelveli – Palakkad Palaruvi Express were short terminated at Thrissur and Aluva respectively.

The ‘16302’ Thiruvananthapuram – Shoranur Venad Express will be terminated at Chalakkudy, it added.

Meanwhile, the Guruvayur – Thrissur Daily Express and Shoranur – Thrissur Daily Express, were cancelled.

The Kannur-Thiruvananthapuram Central Janshatabdi Express was terminated at Shoranur Jn. A number of others trains were also either short terminated or rescheduled partially or fully.

The official death count in the Wayanad landslides has gone up to 123, and includes the count of children and women.

Around 128 are admitted to various hospitals and several people are stranded in many places of Wayanad which is continuing to receive heavy rainfall.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

At least 24 people have been killed and several are feared trapped after massive landslides hit Wayanad in the early hours today as heavy rainfall continued in Kerala.

250 members of the Fire and Rescue, Civil Defence, NDRF, and Local Emergency Response Teams are involved in the rescue operation. An additional team of NDRF has been directed to reach the spot immediately, the officials said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan assured all possible rescue operations to be coordinated in the landslides in Wayanad.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the loss of lives in landslides and assured Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of all possible help from the Centre to deal with the crisis.

The prime minister announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the families of those who died. The injured would be given Rs 50,000.

Here are the Updates on Wayanad landslides:
 

• The Chief Minister has announced that the state Health Department has opened a control room. 
• Those in need of emergency assistance can contact authorities on helpline numbers 9656938689 and 8086010833.

• Besides the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority and NDRF, the Kannur Defence Security Corps are also set to join the rescue operation. 
• The Chief Minister also said two Air Force helicopters will depart for Wayanad shortly to join the ops.
• Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said all agencies have joined the rescue operation in Wayanad. 
• State ministers will coordinate the rescue ops, he has said in a statement.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and assured all help to the LDF government.
• The Prime Minister’s Office has announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the families of those killed in the calamity. Those injured would be given ₹ 50,000.

• At least eight people have died and hundreds are feared trapped after multiple landslides hit Kerala’s Wayanad district.
• Multiple agencies, including the National Disaster Response Forces, have joined the rescue ops in the hilly areas near Meppadi.