In the wake of an unusually premature arrival of the southwest monsoon, the Kerala authorities have announced a holiday for all educational institutions in five districts on Monday following heavy rainfall alerts sounded by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Districts that have been hit due to the closure are Thrissur, Idukki, Ernakulam, Wayanad, and Kasaragod, where the IMD has declared a red alert after continuous rain. All kinds of educational institutions—anganwadis, nurseries, Kendriya Vidyalayas, CBSE and ICSE schools, professional colleges, coaching centers, and madrasas — will be closed for the day.
Despite the closure, authorities clarified that pre-scheduled exams and interviews will continue as planned, as regular academic sessions have not officially resumed and only special classes were in progress.
The IMD said the monsoon hit Kerala eight days ahead of schedule, the earliest arrival since May 23, 2009 — a 16-year record. The department has issued a warning of very heavy rainfall in parts of the state in the next few days.
Following the development, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held a high-level meeting and instructed district administrations to speed up all rain-readiness actions. The government completed pre-monsoon surveys and asked for the deployment of nine NDRF teams in the vulnerable areas.
Evacuations have also been directed for landslide risk zones, and control rooms at taluk-level offices and Emergency Operations Centres under the District Disaster Management Authority are functional. People can reach out to these centers through toll-free numbers 1077 (district level) and 1070 (state-level emergency).
Besides this, Wayanad MP and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has also conducted consultations with district collectors in Wayanad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode to gauge readiness and take effective action in the event of natural disasters, as per a statement from her office.
As more rain is predicted over the week, authorities have asked people to stay vigilant and keep an eye on official advisories.