WAYANAD: 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.
The landslides that occurred in the early hours of Tuesday caught the sleeping villagers off-guard. It quickly turned otherwise picturesque hamlets in the hilly district into a picture of gloom, as the natural tragedy left behind a trail of destruction and despair in the southern state.
Rescue teams comprising the Army, Navy and the NDRF are collectively looking for survivors amid rough weather and multiple agencies are working in tandem to provide critical assistance to those affected.
According to a senior government source, heavy rains triggered a series of massive landslides in hilly areas of Meppadi in the district, sparking apprehensions of a possible increase in fatalities.
As rescue workers are recovering body parts from the rivers and mud, it is difficult to ascertain the exact number of people killed in the tragedy. The bodies are being taken to various hospital morgues for identification and autopsy.
Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha villages were among the areas affected and cut off by the landslides, authorities said.
PM Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased. The injured will be given Rs 50,000. He spoke Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and dispatched Union Minister Suresh Gopi, BJP’s sole Lok Sabha MP from Kerala, to Wayanad to coordinate relief efforts.
The PM also dialled Kerala minister George Kurien and BJP chief JP Nadda, who instructed party workers to help with efforts at the site of the disaster. Kerala BJP chief K Surendran also reached Wayanad.
Speaking during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi lamented the loss of lives in Wayanad and demanded urgent mapping of all landslide-prone areas and a mitigation plan for such landslides in ecologically fragile zones.