KOZHIKODE: Incessant rains that lashed Wayanad district for the past ten days subsided a bit on Friday, even though large parts of the district continue to be inundated.The district administration, however, has shifted more families to relief camps in the wake of continuing threat of landslides in many parts. As of now over 27,167 people from 7,596 families are housed in 219 relief camps opened across the district.Meanwhile, a major landslide at Pancharakolly in Mananthavadi late night on Thursday wiped away four houses and destroyed acres of agricultural land. No causality has been reported as all residents in the area were shifted to relief camps earlier in the day.The opening of Banasura Sagar dam shutters was lowered from 265 cm on Thursday to 205 cm on Friday. It is hoped that the water at Padinjarathara and Panamaram downstream the dam will recede following this. Also, the water level in the am has been brought down to 774.6 MSL.Road traffic, including KSRTC services, through Thamarassery Ghat road and Kuttiady Ghat road resumed on Friday. However, the traffic through Periya Ghat road and Boy's Town Road from Kannur is still affected due to mud slips.Meanwhile, ham (amateur) radio operators have stepped in to provide vital connectivity.A master control room has been set up at district collectorate and amateur radio units have been deployed at three taluk offices in Mananthavady, Sultan Bathery and Vythiri. “This will act as a standby communication network if other means of connectivity fail. At present, mobile and landline networks are fine,” said district collector A R Ajayakumar.The ham call sign of the District Emergency Operations Centre (DEOC) for flood management at collectorate is VU2PDA. The call signs for taluk offices are – Sultan Bathery (VU2JLE), Mananthavady (VU3AYR) and Vythiri (VU20J).

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