“When I woke up around 4:35 a.m. to use the bathroom, I heard a loud noise,” Mr. Thankaraj says. Mr. Thankaraj managed to reach his mobile phone and call his neighbours for help. Mr. Thankaraj adds that he had purchased the five-cent property and house in May 2024. “I was first woken up by the loud barking of our pet dog, Rosy,” Mr. Thankaraj says. The gauge is part of the Idukki Rain Monitoring Project, an initiative run by the Kanjirapally-based Swaruma Charitable Society.