Kerala floods force Sabarimala shrine to close as Pamba river overflows

Four hundred and forty-three villages in Kerala have been declared flood affected. Thirty-eight persons have died and four are missing in one of the worst floods that have hit Kerala. Other than this, 20,000 houses were partially damaged and 435 houses fully destroyed in the flood. Ayyappa devotees were asked not to visit the hill shrine at Sabarimala as the rain-fed Pampa river rose menacingly.