Ongoing search operations are intensifying in Wayanad as one more individual is still missing after a devastating landslide at the Anakkompoyil Meppadi tunnel project claimed seven lives.
The death toll from the Wayanad landslide has increased to six after three more bodies were recovered. The deceased include migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Bihar. Search operations are ongoing for two missing individuals, while several injured remain hospitalised.
A devastating landslide at Kalladi near Meppady in Wayanad, Kerala, has resulted in one death and seven missing individuals at a crucial tunnel road project site, with Chief Minister V D Satheesan attributing the tragedy to contractors' failure to heed warnings about accumulated mud.
The body of Vikram Rana, the last person missing after the July 7 landslide at the Anakkampoyil-Meppadi tunnel project site in Kalladi, Wayanad, Kerala, has been recovered. This brings the death toll to eight. A massive search operation involving multiple agencies led to the discovery of the construction manager's body, concluding the search efforts.
Dilip Buildcon Ltd, the contractor for the Anakkampoyil-Kalladi-Meppadi road tunnel project in Wayanad, attributed a recent fatal landslide to exceptionally heavy rainfall. The company stated that the project adheres to all safety and environmental protocols, despite allegations from Kerala Ministers of a "man-made disaster."
A massive mudslide occurred near Kalladi in Wayanad, Kerala, near the Meenakshi Bridge, part of an ongoing tunnel road project. Shocking visuals show people running for safety as the mudslide, triggered by rain, brought down trees and covered the road and bridge. Rescue operations by police and NDRF are underway to check for trapped individuals.
Following a landslide near the Kalladi tunnel project in Wayanad, Kerala, district authorities have begun evacuating families and intensified rescue operations to find seven missing persons. Heavy rains are complicating efforts, while project engineers clarify the landslide did not originate from the active construction zone.
Kerala Minister T Siddique stated that the Kalladi tunnel project site incident was a "man-made landslide" due to unscientific dumping of excavated earth, not a natural one. Six injured individuals are in stable condition, and an inquiry will be conducted into why previous directions were not followed. Rescue operations are underway with NDRF and Fire and Rescue Services teams.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Fire and Rescue teams on Saturday intensified search operations along the Meenachipuzha river to trace the lone missing person, Vikram Rana, as rescue efforts entered the fifth day following the Wayanad landslide.
Extensive search operations are underway in Wayanad, Kerala, a day after a landslide at a tunnel road construction site claimed three lives. Five people remain missing, and authorities have registered a case of unnatural death. Rescue teams, including NDRF and cadaver dogs, are facing challenges due to ongoing rains and significant mud accumulation.
Torrential monsoon rains unleashed widespread destruction across several parts of the country on Thursday, inundating roads, uprooting trees, damaging property and disrupting normal life as authorities scrambled to restore normalcy.
Survivors of the landslides in Chooralmala-Mundakai in Wayanad district alleged on Thursday that they were given worm-infested food kits by the Meppadi Gram Panchayat, leading to a violent protest by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) on Thursday.
The survivors, one with broken limbs and the other with torn clothes and bruises, were crying out for help when Rahman reached the spot.
Vijayan said the news that the SDMA had directed scientific institutions and scientists not to visit the disaster-affected Meppadi panchayat in Wayanad and not to express their opinions was misleading.
Local residents have stressed that land acquisition for rehabilitation must be completed promptly, as it has been delayed after estate owners challenged it in the Kerala high court.
In the months immediately following the 2024 tragedy, reporting on the landslide per se had been a straightforward affair. On one side was death and destruction. On the other side, survivors and the business of survival. It was black and white. What direction to take was clear. Rehabilitation in comparison, felt like a complex situation. One that is fraught with shades of grey. As grey as human life, explains Shyam G Menon.
Shruti, who lost her entire family in the Wayanad landslide disaster and later her fianc in a road accident, began a new chapter of hope by joining government service. The state cabinet had recently decided to provide a government job to the young woman, who had endured back-to-back tragedies. She joined the Revenue Department as a clerk in the mountainous district, expressing gratitude to the government for its support during her difficult times.
Malayalam television channels aired the visuals captured on the CCTVs in some shops in Chooralmala, one of the hamlets completely destroyed in the disaster.
A total of 1,162 essential documents have been distributed among 872 persons at the camp, the district administration in Wayanad said.
The minister added that many of the surviving children have lost their textbooks and certificates, among others, and the government will consider all these matters and help them after a discussion with the chief minister.
The couple, whose house was destroyed in the landslide, fled their home at 11 pm after noticing muddy water flowing through their area.
In Kerala's society, known for its high material standard of living, plunging into a state of having nothing overnight can be terrible for one's social standing and sense of self-esteem. Rehabilitation entails piecing a community back together after a disturbance and while its aim is noble, the act of reassembling will bring alive disparities and inequalities, explains Shyam G Menon.
Some people broke down at the shock of seeing the cold and injured bodies of their loved ones, while others heaved a sigh of relief that their kin were not among the deceased.
With their near and dear ones gone and staring at an uncertain future, survivors recount their most traumatic experience ever that unfolded in the wee hours of July 30.
Television channels aired phone conversations of several people crying and requesting someone to come and rescue them as they were either trapped in their houses or had no way to travel as bridges had been washed away and the roads were flooded.
Modi also visited one of the relief camps, which is home to many of those displaced in the massive landslides, and interacted with some of the survivors, including two children who lost their loved ones in the disaster that has claimed over 200 lives.
Grim and sad scenes from landslide hit Wayanad district.
When the landslide hit, Sruthi's house was washed away, along with its inhabitants. She lost her entire family and some relatives. All she had left for a close confidante was her fiance Jenson. Days after the landslide and the loss of her family, Jenson died in a road accident that also left Sruthi with serious injuries. News of the accident and Sruthi's backdrop as the lone surviving member of a family wiped out in the July landslide, was picked up by the media, and people rushed to help.
In a post on X, Chiranjeevi on Sunday expressed anguish over the loss of life due to the landslides in Kerala, adding he and his son-"RRR" star Ram Charan were donating Rs 1 crore to the CMDRF.
The conditions that lead to landslides, including soil texture, soil moisture and slope are known, and it is important to put all this knowledge into an operational system, he said.
In one of the worst natural disasters in Kerala, at least 123 persons were killed and 128 injured in massive landslides triggered by torrential rains in Wayanad on Tuesday. With hundreds trapped under the debris, sparking fears of mounting fatalities, rescue agencies were racing against time to pull out any survivors.
'It was specifically mentioned in the Gadgil Committee report that this particular area where the colossal landside happened now should be in the Environmentally Sensitive Area under Zone 1.' 'Zone 1 is the most important and ecologically sensitive area, and that it has to be protected entirely.' 'At least 90% of the Wayanad disaster is man-made.'
As rescue operations in the landslide-hit areas of this north Kerala district entered fifth day, rescuers unearthed more bodies and body parts, taking the death toll to 215, with around 206 people still reported missing.
The death toll in the devastating landslides in Kerala's Wayanad district rose to 167 on Wednesday, while 191 were missing even as the rescue teams intensified efforts to find survivors trapped under the debris on the second day of the search operations.
There is a definite attempt to put the landslides on the backburner because news of them and climate change worry Wayanad's tourism and real estate businesses greatly. Whatever I experienced of Wayanad's 2024 by-elections; the July landslides were not a burning issue, observes Shyam G Menon.
The construction of a Bailey bridge to connect the landslide-hit areas, where several people are believed to be stranded, alongside the deployment of sniffer dogs and over 1,000 rescuers from Central and state emergency response teams conducting massive search operations, constitutes one of the largest rescue efforts in the Wayanad, devastated by a deadly calamity.
When it comes to the Congress and Wayanad, the only way the scepticism in the minds of some in Kerala may be addressed is by the Gandhi family proving that they are more than a passing caravan in town, reports Shyam G Menon.
'Except that the population was much less.' 'I remember my uncle and family moving away from the base of a hill whenever it rained for more than a couple of days without a dry day in between.' 'Perhaps the older generations knew if it rained for more than a certain time, they must pack up to a camp or to a relative.' 'As some of the interviews of the survivors on the Malayalam television channels show, the elderly people had a premonition a tragedy would happen, and those who acted on those premonitions survived.'
He told flood affected people at Meppadi and Kaithapoil that as their representative, he has spoken to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi "to ask for help for this region from the state and Central governments."
Meanwhile, flight operations from the Kochi international airport will resume at 12 noon on Sunday, an airport official said.
