KALPETTA: Following extremely heavy rain, a shutter of Banasura dam was opened on Saturday evening. The shutter was raised at a height of 10 cm and this will let out 8500 litre water in a second. The residents in the area had already been evacuated and alert instructions had been issued to them.

The dam has four shutters.The dam was opened at around 3 pm, after following all criteria. In the morning Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had informed that Banasura dam would be opened at 3 pm and the Red Alert had been declared here today (Saturday) morning.

Last year, the shutters were opened without any prior notice and this had worsened the flood situation in this area. Then, three shutters were opened.