Wayanad landslide: Search enters 15th day for missing, experts to examine affected areas

WAYANAD — As the search operations entered the 15th day for the over 128 missing people in the landslide-affected parts of Kerala’s Wayanad, top experts will on Tuesday inspect the areas that were washed away.

The biggest-ever natural disaster in a single place in the state took place on July 30 which has left 416 dead.

A team led by John Mathai, a veteran former scientist at the National Centre for Earth Science Studies, will visit the worst affected places.

Mathai will inspect the four villages with the primary objective of assessing how and what needs to be done in these areas, which till July 30 were bustling with activity.

He and his team will also assess the partially damaged houses in these areas to decide if they can be repaired or need to be demolished.

Meanwhile, separate teams are continuing their search operations in the Chaliyar River that originates in Wayanad and flows through the Malappuram district, from where over 50 bodies and more than 158 body parts were recovered.

Even on Monday, the rescue team recovered a few body parts, which were taken out and samples sent for DNA examination.

More than 11,000 people are now housed in over 100 relief camps. The Local Self Government officials, who have identified over 250 locked homes, are readying a plan to move people in stages from the various relief camps to these houses. Even though the Pinarayi Vijayan government has been promising help and support for the victims, past experiences have not given much confidence to the locals. Five years ago in Puthumala, just 2.5 km from one of the four villages that were washed away on July 30, a landslide killed 17 people and numerous others lost their properties. Eight families continue to suffer even today.

“I had 16 cents of land in my name which was washed away at Puthumala. To date, we have had no response from the government who then promised us compensation. We are only getting repeated assurances as we are forced to move from one rented home to another,” said Razeena at Puthumala.