At least 122 persons were killed and 197 injured after multiple landslides flattened some three villages in Vythiri taluk of the hilly Wayanad district of Kerala early on July 30.
The death toll is expected to climb as more persons are feared dead. As many as 25 mangled body parts were recovered from the Chaliyar river near Pothukallu area in Malappuram district and four from Chooralmala in Wayanad.
The Kerala government has declared a state of mourning on July 30 and 31. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said an intense rescue effort involving State and Central forces was underway in Mundakkai, Chooralmala and Attamala localities.?Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex gratia payment of ?2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and ?50,000 as compensation for the injured.
The government has identified the landslide’s origin as a water-logged hillock 6 km away from the villages, which abutted the Iruvanipuzha river.
The first landslide occurred at 2 a.m. when the residents were in deep slumber. The cascading wave of sodden mud, boulders, and uprooted trees measured at least two floors in height if the waterline visible on a multi-storey school building was anything to go by.?
Images showed a wide, muddy slash on the verdant, uninhabited hillside, where the mud had slid down to bury the villages thousands of metres below. The second landslide occurred at 4.10 a.m. ?
Also Read: Wayanad landslides LIVE updates - July 30, 2024
Bridge wiped out
The moving landmass roared over the devastated locality and plunged into the swollen river, changing its course and flooding neighbouring localities. “In the place of one river, there are two now”, Mr. Vijayan told a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram later. The second landslide wiped out the Chooramala bridge spanning the Iruvanipuzha, cutting off the disaster site from search and rescue teams. Hundreds of landslide survivors hunkered down in nearby hill resorts and schools, waiting for rescue workers to evacuate them to safer ground.
Rescue workers found 16 bodies and scores of body parts downstream from the Chaliyar river in Nilambur. Mr. Vijayan said the multiple landslides swept several families and homes into the river in the dark hours.?
The Chief Minister said the rugged locality, a switchback of hills and forests favoured by tourists, received 578 mm of rain in the past 48 hours.
He said revenue officials had reduced the scale of the disaster by evacuating several settlements around the hill, including the lone tribal settlement at Chembra.?
However, the landslide took an unexpected path. The erased villages did not fall under the government’s disaster-prone zone.
37 bodies identified
Mr. Vijayan said officials had identified 37 of the bodies retrieved by rescue workers from the expansive disaster site. The government has expedited forensic examination and autopsy to return the bodies to the relatives at the earliest.?He said the rescue operation would continue into the night.
Officials told The Hindu in Wayanad that several of the dead were plantation workers from West Bengal and northeastern States, making the identifying process vexatious.?
One of those killed is a native of Tamil Nadu. He was identified as K. Kalidoss of the Nilgiris district. The native of Marappalam in Gudalur taluk went to Mundakkai Sooralmalai in Wayanad district for construction work. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin condoled his death and announced a solatium of ?3 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund, an official release said.?
Rescue teams, volunteers and desperate families struggling in knee-deep mud and unrelenting rain fanned across the debris-strewn field, searching for possible survivors and clues to missing persons and dead bodies. The fate of many remained unclear as rescuers struggled to reach localities cut off by the landslide.?
Yousouf, the owner of Tree Valley Resort in Mundakkai, told reporters over the mobile phone that nearly 250 persons, including women and children, were hunkering at his establishment. Several were injured and in desperate need of medical attention.?
Inclement weather initially prevented the Indian Air Force from airlifting survivors stranded in Mundakkai and Attamala localities. In the evening, the IAF’s ALH helicopter defied cross winds and low visibility to airlift critical patients to hospitals in Sultan Battery.
The incessant rains triggered more landslides at? Puncharimattam, Munutti, Irupanthoppu and Vellarimala, even as rescue workers braved the threat of flash floods and falling boulders to scour the disaster area for survivors.?
The government moved more than 3,500 persons to relief camps. Special medical teams consisting of trauma care specialists reached Wayanad. The government also moved fresh water and packaged food to the disaster-hit locality.
The government has put the State’s official machinery on an active footing as it braces for heavy rains in eight districts (red alert) in the next 24 hours. Mr. Vijayan counselled residents to heed State Disaster Management Authority warnings and move to relief camps if required.
Also Read: Rain continues to wreak havoc in Wayanad
Helpline numbers
The Kerala government has opened two control rooms to attend to distress calls from citizens (9656938689 and 8086010833).?
With the rain continuing to be heavy, a ban was imposed on visitors at all tourist destinations in Kozhikode district. All granite quarries have also been asked to shut down temporarily.
