Wayanad Landslides: As the search and rescue operations in the landslides that struck Kerala’s Wayanad entered its fourth day, more than 300 people lost their lives, with scores of people still missing.
A massive rescue operation involving officials from the Defence, Police Department, and Fire, besides local residents, is currently underway at the four worst landslide-hit areas of Wayanad district: Chooramala, Velarimala, Mundakayil, and Pothukalu.
According to Kerala Health Minister Veena George, the current death toll stands at 308. Citing unofficial sources, Malayalam news portal Manorama Online reported that 298 people were missing.
#WATCH | Kerala: Search and rescue operations continue at landslide-affected Chooralmala in Wayanad.
The current death toll stands at 308, as per Kerala Health Minister Veena George pic.twitter.com/CY0iOuPHf4
— ANI (@ANI) August 2, 2024
As the rescuers race against time to search for survivors, news agency IANS reported that more than 8,000 people have been evacuated safely and put up in 82 relief camps.
Here Are Latest Updates
- Rescue operations are set to be further intensified to include a drone-based radar to search for the survivors, as per a report by India Today.
- Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday chaired an all-party meeting at Wayanad and thanked the massive efforts of the multi-pronged rescue team comprising over 1,200 professionals.
- The massive rescue operation, involving personnel from all three defence forces, police, disaster relief agencies, and fire services, besides locals and volunteers, is currently on at the four worst-affected landslide areas of Wayanad — Churalpara, Velarimala, Mundakayil, and Pothukalu.
- Vijayan said the army has informed him that there is no chance of any more survivors in the worst-affected areas. However, a bailey bridge at Churalmala is now ready and will enable big earth-moving equipment to reach places which have been cut off. “Now the need of the hour is for a proper rehabilitation programme and for that we have already started to work on it. We do have a good experience of handling rehabilitation and hence it will be done,” he said.
- Telecom operators are augmenting and restoring connectivity on a war footing in the landslide-hit areas to ensure communications between rescue teams, government officials and the public, an official statement said on Thursday, as reported by PTI. The telecom infrastructure has been augmented and restored to provide continuous coverage in Wayanad by operators BSNL, Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, the statement said.
- Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi along with party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, visited the landslides-hit Wayanad in Kerala, on Thursday. Both the leaders reached one of the landslide site in Chooralmala and also met the injured at a hospital. They expressed their condolences by sharing the grief of the victims and assured them all possible support for their rehabilitation.
- The Indian Army on Thursday completed the construction of a Bailey bridge, connecting the landslide-hit Chooralmala and Mundakai in Wayanad, Kerala. The 190-ft-long bridge has been constructed to boost rescue operation in the region and has a weight capacity of 24 tonne.
