Wayanad Landslide Highlights: Rescue ops in Chooralmala enter Day 4; death toll goes past 300

Bailey bridge has been assembled at Chooralmala to reach worst-hit village Mundakkai. The death toll has risen to 277, with over 200 injured as of Thursday morning, following a series of devastating landslides in the hilly areas near Meppadi in Kerala’s Wayanad district. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan while talking to NDTV today ealier today said that real assessment has not been possible because the rescue forces have not been able to reach the first site affected by landslide yet. “The bodies which have been recovered are mostly from a village which has been devastated because the river has changed it course due to the landslide. After the Bailey bridge is built within few hours we will access to the first village impacted."

The death toll has risen to 277, with over 200 injured as of Thursday morning, following a series of devastating landslides in the hilly areas near Meppadi in Kerala’s Wayanad district. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has confirmed that 240 people remain missing, while more than 1,500 have been rescued from the affected areas. 3D rendition of the crown of the landslide published by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Center illustrates that a large section of the hill slope has been affected. The areal extent of the landslide is 86,000 sq.m.

Describing the landslide in Kerala's Wayanad as a "grave disaster," West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday expressed her deep sorrow over the incident and extended her condolences to the families of the victims.

Banerjee said two Trinamool Congress MPs, Saket Gokhale and Sushmita Dev, would travel to the affected areas in the southern state to provide assistance and support to the families impacted by the disaster.

In a post on X, she said, "We are greatly perturbed by the news of the Wayanad landslides in Kerala. It is really a grave disaster. On humanitarian grounds, we are sending a team of two of our MPs, Saket Gokhale & Sushmita Dev, to visit the affected areas." The CM said the MPs will stay there for two days and extend full assistance and cooperation for the well-being of the suffering families.

The landslides, which occurred two days ago, claimed 177 lives and left over 200 injured, with the toll expected to rise as rescue operations continue (PTI)

IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra Thursday said the India Meteorological Department issued regular forecasts for significant rainfall activity along the west coast of India and a red alert for Kerala in the early morning of July 30, the day Wayanad district was hit by landslides that killed more than 150 people.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Kerala government did not heed the Centre's warning regarding a possible natural calamity in Wayanad due to heavy rains.

Responding to Shah's claim, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday that the IMD had only issued an orange alert in the district ahead of the landslides. However, he said that the district received over 572 mm of rainfall, which was significantly higher than what was predicted by the IMD.

During an online press conference, the IMD chief said the weather department had issued an extended range forecast for significant rainfall activity along the west coast of India on July 18 and July 25. The IMD chief said that an orange warning means "be prepared for action and one should not wait for red warnings." Similarly, warnings were in place for Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, he said. (PTI)

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan while talking to NDTV today said that real assessment has not been possible because the rescue forces have not been able to reach the first site affected by landslide yet. "The bodies which have been recovered are mostly from a village which has been devastated because the river has changed it course due to the landslide. After the Bailey bridge is built within few hours we will access to the first village impacted. Right now it's rescue and relief. All those living on the banks of this new course of the river, they have been removed. Rescue and relief work is being done in full force and army and defence forces have been assisting district administration. The district collector is on ground and a large number of volunteers are present," said Khan in a conversation with NDTV.

Khan chose not to comment on Union Home Minister Amit Shah's speech in Parliament yesterday saying that multiple alerts for Wayanad were issued before, claims which were denied by Kerala CM Vijayan.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi along with party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visit a relief camp at St Joseph UP School in Wayanad to meet the survivors of the landslide.

"Witnessing these scenes of tragedy deeply pains my heart. In these difficult times, Priyanka and I stand with the people of Wayanad. We are closely monitoring the relief, rescue, and rehabilitation efforts, ensuring that all necessary assistance is provided. The UDF is committed to extending all possible support.

The repeated incidents of landslides and natural calamities are extremely concerning. A comprehensive action plan is urgently needed," said Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have arrived at the Wayanad landslide disaster site and also visiting relief camps and the medical college to support and meet with the affected families.

A scientific research institute under the central government has been working without break for the last two days to prepare food items with longer shelf life for the survivors of landslides in Wayanad.

A team of scientists from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) here has converted their incubation cell for technology transfer into a food processing and production unit with more than 70 people, including research scholars volunteering to help, working in one shift to prepare 1000 packets of each food item.

They are using an exclusive technology developed by the institute to provide extra shelf life to food items like Upma, which the director said has a high protein value.

"One is upma; we increased the protein content of it by 10 per cent. And we use retort processing and retort pouches that will keep the food fresh for at least one month. Then we have poha mixed with ground nuts in dried form, which also has a shelf life of one month. We also have millet puffs for kids," C Anandharamakrishnan, director of CSIR-NIIST, told PTI. (PTI)

- Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are presently at the Ground Zero in Wayanad.

- Day 3 of search and rescue operations continues in landslide-affected areas.

- The Army and NDRF are constructing a temporary bridge in the area.

- The death toll stands at 277.

- CM Pinarayi Vijayan was in Wayanad, accompanied by the Chief Secretary and the State Police Chief.

- The Chief Minister also chaired an all-party meeting there.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visit the ground zero at landslide-hit Wayanad, Kerala on Thursday.

Army, NDRF and other agencies are constructing a temporary bridge in landslide-hit Wayanad as the relief and rescue operations continue on a war footing in the region.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that a high-level meeting took place on Thursday, which was followed by a discussion with political party leaders, including opposition figures. He emphasized, "Our focus is to rescue those who were isolated.". According to their reports, most of the trapped individuals have now been rescued. CM Vijayan also noted the challenges faced in bringing in machinery to assist with the rescue operations but highlighted that the completion of the Bailey Bridge has significantly facilitated the efforts.

In Mundakkai, Wayanad district, heavy machinery is urgently needed to aid rescue operations in the aftermath of devastating landslides that have buried houses under mud and uprooted trees.

The current equipment, such as excavators, is insufficient to handle the massive trees and debris.

The landslides, caused by severe rainfall, have resulted in at least 277 deaths and over 200 injuries, with the toll expected to rise as more victims are discovered.

The affected areas include Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha, where the disaster has heavily impacted women and children. (PTI)

CLOSE TO 48 hours into the devastating landslide that tore through the hills of Wayanad district early Tuesday morning, Mundakkai, Ground Zero of the tragedy, is a ghost village — many of its inhabitants are dead, others remain missing and those who survived were taken out after an arduous rescue mission.

According to the state government’s control room that’s monitoring the rescue operation, by Wednesday evening, the death toll from the landslides stood at 174 while around 170 people were reported missing as central and state agencies worked alongside local volunteers to carry out search, rescue and relief operations. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said 1,592 people have been rescued since the landslides hit.

But it’s Mundakkai, a village in the lap of the Western Ghats that posed the biggest challenge to the rescuers. Once dotted with resorts, homestays and coffee plantations, the entire village, part of the Meppadi panchayat, had been turned inside out as the torrent of mud and water washed away everything in its path — hundreds of houses, a mosque, a post office, a resort and several buildings. Continue reading

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said "We have to be focusing on the hope of rescuing some people still because the truth is that 200 lives have been lost but there are still 200 people missing. Two villages have disappeared off the map, it is a very serious crisis. So, we must appreciate the value of trying to do this on a priority basis and see who you can save. Then, you can look at the politics as you know that the Home Minister said that was a warning but the CM said that the warning was not sufficiently serious, it was a green or orange alert and not a red alert. All of these can be debated later. Eventually, accountability is required and preventive measures are required but we can't sit here today when lives might still be saved and worry about the politics."

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and KC Venugopal have arrived at Kannur Airport. They are scheduled to visit landslide-affected areas in Wayanad, Kerala today.

Search and rescue operations continue in landslide-affected areas in Kerala's Wayanad. Drone visuals from the Chooralmala area The death toll stands at 276.

Congress’ Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has urged Home Minister Amit Shah to declare the Wayanad landslides as a “calamity of severe nature” under the MPLADS guidelines in order to facilitate urgent assistance from MPs to the affected areas.

In his letter to Shah, Tharoor said that on July 30, in the dead of night, a series of devastating landslides struck the Wayanad district of Kerala, claiming over hundred lives and leaving many more severely injured in hospitals, while countless others remain missing, trapped beneath the debris.

This disaster of unimaginable proportions has left behind a harrowing tale of death and destruction, the senior Congress leader said. (Read Here)

Brigadier Arjun Segan, Commandant of the Para Regimental Training Centre said, " Today is the 3rd day of rescue and search operation. We built a metallic footbridge overnight...we hope that we will be able to complete the work of Bailey Bridge which is for 24 tonnes weight category, by this afternoon...our engineers were on the job throughout the night...we sent 5 earth moving equipment yesterday and today also we have sent many earth moving equipment. This is making our search operation much easier..."

The Kerala police have initiated an investigation into a social media campaign against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's Facebook post requesting aid for Wayanad landslide victims.

The Wayanad Cybercrime police registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Disaster Management Act, probing a fake campaign on the social media platform X by the handle 'Koyikodans 2.0' which urged people to reject the CM's relief appeal.

The police have warned of strict legal action against those spreading fake posts and have intensified social media monitoring.

The CM had asked for contributions to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund following massive landslides in Wayanad that killed several people. (PTI)

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is travelling from Kozhikode to Wayanad today. The chief secretary Dr V Venu and DGP, Shaik Darvesh Sahib are accompanying him.

An all-party meeting chaired by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will take place on Thursday in the landslide-affected hill district of Wayanad.

This follows severe landslides that have resulted in 167 deaths, 191 people missing, and over 200 injured. Rescue efforts are ongoing, involving the army, navy, coast guard, and dog squads.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are also expected to visit the relief camps. A bailey bridge is being constructed to improve access to the affected areas. (PTI)