Last year, Kerala was hit by worst floods in a century that killed over 300 people.
Hours before monsoon is expected to hit Kerala, the state disaster management authority has sounded a series of alerts in several parts of the state.
The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority or the KSDMA has sounded a red alert, predicting "very heavy to extremely heavy rain" for Thrissur on June 10 and Ernakulam, Malappuram and Kozhikode on June 11.
An orange alert, indicating "heavy to very heavy rains", has been sounded for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, and Ernakulam for June 9 and June 10. In Thrissur, an orange alert has been sounded for June 9.
The KSDMA has also sounded orange alert in Malappuram and Kozhikode, expected to receive "heavy to very heavy rains" on June 10. For Kollam, Alapuzzha and Kottayam, an orange alert has been issued for June 11.
The India Meteorological Department, earlier in the day, said it would be able to declare the arrival of monsoon in the state on Saturday after several parts in the state were hit by heavy rains today.
Last year, Kerala was hit by worst floods in a century that killed over 300 people. The state government this time has streamlined the Incident Response System as a part of preparatory measures in the eventuality of any disasters.
"In 2018, we had severe flood, the worst in 98 years. But we've had other bad experiences too. In 2016 and 2017, Kerala was hit by one of the worst droughts," Sekhar Kuriakose, member secretary for the KSDMA, told NDTV.
He further said: "The IMD has informed us that we might be getting heavy to excessively heavy showers on certain days. We are preparing to face that. Our incident response system is till taluk level so we have different officials designated till the taluk level. All collectors have been given a monsoon preparedness handbook, which involves detailed instructions for 30 different departments. It's an integration of various experiences we have gain from Cyclone Ockhi, as well as the floods."
Heavy rainfall has also been predicted in coastal parts of Karnataka.
The IMD has predicted a normal monsoon for this year.
Meanwhile, heat wave conditions continue to prevail in several parts of the country including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, which are likely to get respite after the arrival of monsoons. Reports of severe water scarcity have emerged from states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh.