Kerala Govt. releases draft list of missing persons in Wayanad disaster
Search operation using earth movers in full swing at Chooralmala in Wayanad on Wednesday.
The Wayanad district administration on Wednesday released a list of those missing in the July 30 Chooralmala-Mundakkai landslides. The draft list containing 138 names was published as part of the government efforts to trace them.
A team of government officials under the supervision of District Collector D.R. Meghashree prepared the list after examining ration cards and voters’ list. Those documents were corroborated with the official documents available with the grama panchayat, district education office, labour office, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), and District Disaster Management Authority.
Missing persons’ names, ration card number, address, relatives’ names and their relationship, phone number and photo are on the list. People can examine the list and contact the administration if they have any information about the missing people.
Ms. Meghashree said that the final list of the missing people would be released after persistently vetting the draft list.
The Cabinet subcommittee overseeing the search and relief operations said here on Wednesday that panchayats adjacent to Meppadi would be given preference in the first phase of the temporary rehabilitation of the survivors.
Vacant houses, government quarters, hotels, home stays and hostels in Meppadi and neighbouring areas will be identified for early rehabilitation. People willing to offer their houses freely should contact their respective civic bodies, said Revenue Minister K. Rajan, Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran, Public Work Minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas, and SC-ST Welfare Minister O.R. Kelu.
Mr. Rajan said that the government was planning a fool-proof rehabilitation package in which all families that suffered losses in the disaster would be covered. The package is being prepared not on the basis of the number of people currently in relief camps, but on the basis of the data from the disaster zone, he said.
Mr. Riyas said that the search for the missing bodies would continue in the Chaliyar in the eastern parts of Malappuram.
The search for the bodies of the missing people continued on Wednesday, the ninth day after the tragedy.
As many as 1,026 personnel of the State Police, National Disaster Response Force, Army, National Disaster Management Authority rescue team, Delta Squad, Kerala Police’s special operations group (SOG), Fire and Rescue Services of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, K9 Dog Squad, and Forest Department were involved in the search in six zones of the disaster-stricken Chooralmala, Mundakkai and Punchirimattam.
They used 54 Hitachi and seven JCB earthmovers. One more body and four body parts were retrieved from the Chaliyar at Nilambur on Wednesday. So far, 225 bodies of the victims were retrieved. When 148 were recovered from Wayanad, 77 were retrieved from Nilambur. As many as 192 body parts were also recovered.
Four unidentified body parts were buried at the Harison Malayalam plantation cemetery on Wednesday afternoon.
The government has started distributing new ration cards to the survivors. Revenue Minister gave away fresh cards to five persons on Wednesday. Mr. Rajan congratulated the Civil Supplies officials for issuing new cards on a war-footing.
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