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At least 125 people were killed as a series of massive landslides struck Kerala’s hills-bound Wayanad district on Tuesday.
An ‘orange alert’ was announced for Wayanad, which has been seeing a sustained wet spell for over a week. But Monday and Tuesday saw heavy to very heavy and extremely heavy showers, with the district receiving a cumulative 57 cm during these two days, which is way more than an ‘orange alert’ spell.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said 93 bodies have been recovered, but many more are feared buried under mountain soil and boulders stretching for kilometres across densely populated villages and towns.
Entire area wiped out
Rescue operation underway following landslides triggered by heavy rain in the hilly areas of Wayanad district, Kerala, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. | Photo Credit: PTI
The Chief Minister said an entire region, including pristine hillside towns such as Mundakkai, Chooramala, and Attamala, had been wiped off the map. Hundreds were trapped in the worst-hit Mundakkai, which could not be accessed until 13 hours after the tragedy when a small team of Army men managed to reach the area with food and drinking water. Massive property loss is being widely reported.
A local river changed course and spilt into two, leading to fearsome rapids, reportedly forcing the Army to drop the idea of building a temporary bridge across the raging waters.At least 16 bodies were found floating in downstream Chaliar where these waters empty, the Chief Minister said.Hundreds of houses, including a school, were washed away.
Rescue effort
Wayanad: People wade through flood water following landslides in Mylambadi, Wayanad district, Kerala, southern India, 30 July 2024. More than 54 people were confirmed dead with over 100 feared missing after landslides hit Wayanad in the early hours of 30 July, burying a large area under debris, State Revenue Minister K. Rajan’s office confirmed. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also announced a two-day statewide mourning period. | Photo Credit: PTI
A coordinated rescue effort involving the Army, the Navy, the NDRF, Fire and Rescue Services, the police, and civil defence had achieved traction by the evening. However, inclement weather, made worse by a massive envelope of mist that descended on the hillside, hampered rescue operations, the Chief Minister said.
Air lift hampered
Security personnel board an IAF aircraft for Wayanad to join the ongoing rescue operations following landslides triggered by heavy rain in the hilly areas of Wayanad district, in Thiruvananthapuram, Tuesday, July 30, 2024.
Earlier, Union Minister of State for Fisheries George Kurian said the PMO had ordered the IAF, the Navy and the Army stations in the South to coordinate rescue and relief operations. Two Air Force choppers from Sulur in Coimbatore could not land in the affected area until evening.
The Prime Minister has announced an ex gratia payment of ₹2 lakh from the PMNRF to the next of kin of each deceased in the landslides. The injured will be given ₹50,000 each.
RED ALERT
NDRF team carries out a rescue operation after a landslide occurred in the Chooralmala area, in Wayanad on Tuesday. Death toll rises to 93. | Photo Credit: ANI
Amid the calamity, Kerala is bracing for more rain, as the weather office has issued a red alert for eight districts — Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargod.
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