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Wayanad landslides: Kerala Cabinet resolves to rush more personnel and equipment to Wayanad
Kerala Cabinet decides to expedite post-mortem examination process to hasten release of the bodies of landslide victims to their families. Health department has rushed more forensic teams to Wayanad
A drone view shows a landslide site after multiple landslides in Wayanad district of Kerala on July 31, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS
A Cabinet meeting chaired by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan early on July 31 decided to intensify the ongoing search and rescue mission in the landslide-ravaged Wayanad district by deploying more personnel and equipment.
The Cabinet also resolved to expedite the post-mortem examination process to hasten the release of the bodies of the landslide victims to their families. The Health department has rushed more forensic teams to Wayanad.
Wayanad landslides: Mobilisation of humanitarian aid in full swing
CM to leave for Wayanad
Mr. Vijayan will leave for disaster-ravaged Wayanad later in the day and chair an all-party meeting in the district on August 1.
The conference will likely decide on compensation for victims and survivors and discuss a rehabilitation package for Wayanad. It will also review ongoing search and rescue missions.
The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said two Indian Army Human Assistance and Disaster Relief columns were airborne from Thiruvananthapuram and would reach Kozhikode soon. The Army is airlifting a portable Bailey’s bridge from New Delhi to Kannur airport.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George injured in road accident en route to landslide-hit Wayanad
Tuesday’s landslide wiped out the Chooralmala bridge spanning the Iruvanipuzha, cutting off search and rescue teams from the disaster site. Authorities hope the Bailey’s bridge will restore land connectivity to the calamity zone and offer a sturdy ingress to search and rescue workers.
Meanwhile, a government official said the search for survivors at Mundakkai, one of the three landslide-hit localities in Wayanad, appeared to be entering a delicate new phase.
He said authorities and rescue workers, including Army and NDRF units, at the spot seemed to silently acknowledge the worrying possibility that there could be no survivors.
So far, rescue workers have retrieved at least six mangled bodies from Mundakkai. Authorities said there could be more under the mud.
Officials said the wall of cascading mud could have washed away the village into the nearby Iruvanipuzha River.
They pointed out that the mangled bodies of the landslide victims continued to wash up on the banks of the downstream Chaliyar River at Nilambur in Malappuram.
Backed by victuals and equipment air-dropped by IAF helicopters, rescue workers, sniffer dogs, army personnel, and volunteers continued to search the area painstakingly.
The spirit of volunteerism appeared evident in Mundakkai. Scores of volunteer rescuers, wearing plastic rain ponchos and with little more than their bare hands, have joined government responders to locate survivors and bodies.
The collapsed hillside, drenched by heavy rains in the past 24 hours, has turned Mundakkai into a muddy swamp.
Senior officials in Thiruvananthapuram said rescue workers found it extremely difficult to search the rust-coloured sludge, which is almost waist-deep at some points and littered with the detritus of collapsed houses, dead livestock and fallen trees, for bodies and survivors.
Multiple landslides that pulverised Mundakkai, Chooralmala, and Attamala localities have reportedly forced the government to remap disaster-prone zones in the State urgently.
They have also prompted the government to devise a comprehensive scheme to relocate and rehabilitate people living in localities prone to geological calamities.
Mr. Vijayan had on July 30 pointed out that several families, wedded to their means of living, were reluctant to leave their houses in disaster-prone localities.
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Kerala
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avalanche/landslide
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