Rain is lashing the capital, traffic is disrupted

Commuters take shelter on elevated areas at the KSRTC North Bus Stand in East Fort following severe waterlogging caused by the pre-monsoon thunderstorm in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. | Photo credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN

Heavy rain lashed parts of the state on Friday and Saturday, leaving low-lying areas in cities heavily waterlogged and causing major traffic problems. Trains were also suspended. Some of the trains arriving at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station were delayed as traffic was affected by landslides on the tracks between Nemo and Thiruvananthapuram. Railways later resumed operations in the afternoon, railway sources said.

City traffic was also severely disrupted by rain that lashed the capital regions and adjoining areas including East Fort Bus Stand, Pazhavangadi Road and Thampanoor, disrupting vehicular traffic and leaving low-lying areas in the city and its suburbs under water for a while. The India Meteorological Department (IMD), which had issued a yellow alert for the capital on Saturday, upgraded the alert to orange in the evening warning of an intensified spell.

The current spell of rains that caught people in the capital city unawares was due to the combined effect of multiple systems persisting in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, including a trough that leads from the cyclonic circulation over the east-central Bay of Bengal to the Lakshadweep region via the west-central Bay of Bengal, the southwest Bay of Bengal and the Comorin region at an altitude of 5.8 km above mean sea level.

Meanwhile, the Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into some other parts of Southwest and Southeast Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep Islands, Comorin region, Southwest, Southeast, West and East Bay of Bengal and some parts of Northeast Bay of Bengal on Saturday, according to a weather bulletin issued by the IMD on Saturday. Conditions are favorable for further advance of Southwest Monsoon during the next 4-5 days, the bulletin said.

Meanwhile, Urumi in Kozhikode recorded the highest rainfall of 11 cm in the last 24 hours that ended at 8.30 am on Saturday, followed by Ernakulam South with 10 cm, Kochi, Mattanchery and Palluruthy in Ernakulam with 9 cm each and Cherthala in Alappuzha (8 cm). Thiruvananthapuram city also received around 6 cm of rain during the day.

Published – 30 May 2026 19:36 IST