Wayanad Landslide: Death Toll Rises To 291, 200 Still Missing; Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi Reach Ground Zero | Top Updates

The Rescue operations in Kerala’s Wayanad were resumed on Thursday as the construction of a Bailey bridge to connect the landslide-hit areas, where several people are believed to be stranded, constituted one of the largest rescue efforts in the hill district, devastated by a deadly calamity.

The massive landslides which struck Wayanad on Tuesday claimed the lives of at least 291 people and left 206 missing. Indian Army, NDRF along with local emergency response departments continued their massive search and rescue operation to trace people feared to be trapped in the tragedy.

Following Are The Latest Updates:

• LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi along with sister and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, visited relief camp at St. Joseph School in Meppadi.

Both the leaders reached the Choorlamala landslide site and expressed their condolences by sharing the grief of the victims and assuring all possible support for their rehabilitation.

• Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday held a high-level meeting to discuss the rescue situation in Wayanad. “Rescue operations will continue in the river to search for missing persons. Rescued people are temporarily shifted to camps. Rehabilitation works will be done at the earliest, as we have done in earlier situations too. I request the media to avoid meeting people and shooting inside the camps. You may talk to them outside the camps, it is important to protect the privacy of the individuals…” he said.
• Vijayan emphasised on giving psychological support to the survivors. He further announced to camp a committee of four state ministers who will coordinate the recue activities. “”Most important is giving psychological support to the survivors. We have to avoid the spread of the epidemic. Not only human beings, but many animals also died in the calamity. Have to bury them all properly. A committee of four ministers will camp here and coordinate activities. For those who lost certificates, the government will re-issue them,” he said.

• Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal reached Wayanad on Thursday to take stock of the situation of the rescue operation. Both the leaders also visited a relief camp at Meppadi Govt Higher Secondary School in Wayanad to meet the survivors of the landslide.

• Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday also took an aerial inspection of the landslide-hit district. He was travelling to Wayanad from Kozhikode. The chief secretary Dr V Venu and DGP, Shaik Darvesh Sahib also accompanied him.

• The Rescue teams resumed the rescue efforts on Thursday at several places in Wayanad which were hit by a series of massive landslides on Tuesday claiming the lives of at least 256 people and leaving hundreds injured. According to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, 206 are still missing.

• The Indian Army, in coordination with the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard (ICG), to carry out search operations at three locations – Attamala, Mundakkai, and Chooralmala. Each team is to be accompanied by a dog squad. Five JCBs have been shifted to the west side of the stream to clear debris and facilitate search operations. The launching of a 190-foot bridge is expected to be completed by today afternoon. Simultaneously, the construction of an improvised footbridge has been completed, said Indian Army official.

• The IAF’s C-17 has transported 53 metric tons of essential supplies such as a Bailey bridge, Dog squads, medical aid, and other essential equipment for rescue support operations. Additionally, an-32 and C-130 are being utilised for ferrying relief materials and personnel. Collectively, these aircraft of IAF have facilitated the transportation of over 200 people including rescue teams and displaced residents to and from the disaster stricken zone. While the challenging weather is restricting flying, IAF is finding opportune time to undertake HADR operations.
• IAF has also deployed a diverse fleet helicopters towards the effort. The Mi-17 and Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) have been inducted to undertake HADR operations. Despite prevailing wide spread bad weather conditions, IAF aircraft continue to facilitate evacuation of stranded individuals to the nearest medical facilities and safe zones and delivery of essential supplies till late evening of 31 July.
• Four additional assistant collectors deployed to aid the Wayanad landslide response. Assistant collectors from Idukki, Palakkad, and Kozhikode districts have been deployed to support the Wayanad district administration in the aftermath of the landslide.
• 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.
• Tharoor said, “We are focusing on the hope of rescuing some people still because the truth is 200 lives have been lost but still another 200 people are missing. 2 villages have disappeared from the map in this severe crisis… The Union Home Minister said that the early warning was issued, 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 things can be disputed later. Eventually, preventive measures are required…I have asked for it to be declared a severe calamity because, under the MPLADS fund, any MP in Indian can donate up to Rs 1 cr for a natural calamity, once the govt declares so…”

• Several world leaders, including Russia President Vladimir Putin expressed condolence and sorrow over the devastating landslides in the Kerala district. “Kindly accept the most sincere condolences over the tragic consequences of the landslides in Kerala. Please convey words of sympathy and support to the near and dear ones of the deceased as well as wishes for a speedy recovery of all injured,” said the Russian President in the letter addressed to President Droupadi Murmu.
• Kerala Minister K Rajan said that over 1600 forces are involved in rescue operation. says, “This day is very important, more than 1600 forces are involved in the rescue operations. Social workers are also involved…CM arrived at Kalpetta around 9:30 am and at 10:30 am there will be a meeting with officials…he will visit this spot after that,” he said.

• Union Minister George Kurien reached Kerala on Thursday on the dircetion on PM Modi to tkae stock of the situation. He said, “I am being sent by the prime minister here… Several columns of the army and NDRF are here and two columns of DSE are here already. The Army and Air Force have had their six helicopters here since yesterday including one Navy helicopter. They are dropping food because some people are without connection. They are that way. They aren’t getting any food or anything because only one road is there to reach the villages and it is damaged… Yesterday morning, the PM declared the compensation of Rs 2 lakhs from the centre for the relatives of the persons who lost their lives and Rs 50,000 for the injured. In the early morning itself, the prime minister’s office contacted me and I was directed to reach 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.”

• Indian Army, NDRF along with local emergency response departments continued their massive search and rescue operation to trace people feared to be trapped in the tragedy.
• Climate activist and environmentalist G Sundarrajan blamed man-made climate disaster for the enviromental tragdies. “Climate change is causing this extreme rainfall in a short duration of time. This has become the character of climate change. Kerala, a state that used to receive about 3,000 mm of rainfall over six months. But, today, that 3,000 mm of rainfall falls within a few weeks of time. The number of heavy rainfall days are increasing and the number of minimum rainfall days are decreasing. Because Wayanad has indiscriminate felling of trees, damps, tunnels and roads and place is unmindful of what will happen to soil and rocks. This makes land ready for disates. When heavy rain falls, there’s a huge landslide… Wayanad is a man-made disaster,” he said.
• Vijayan on Wednesday said that the coordinated and extensive rescue operations by the NDRF, Army, and other agencies ensured that over 1,500 people were saved from the landslide-hit areas of the hill district.
• In Mundakkai, which was cut off from the rest of the district, makeshift bridges and pulleys were erected over gushing rivers to transport people stranded there to safety and shift bodies recovered from destroyed homes to ambulances. As the majority of houses were flattened, rescuers broke open the roofs using hammers and pickaxes, as heavy machinery could not be brought there due to lack of proper roads or bridges, to enter the collapsed structures and search for any people trapped inside.
• Seven districts in Kerala have announced a holiday for Thursday in wake of the devastation due the massive landslides triggered by torrential rains in Meppadi in the Wayanad district.
• The Kerala police have launched an investigation into an alleged social media campaign against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s Facebook post requesting help for the people affected by the landslides in Wayanad district. The State Police Media Centre (SPMC) on Thursday said that the Wayanad Cybercrime police has registered a case under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Disaster Management Act and launched a probe into the alleged spreading of a campaign with the intention of obstructing relief efforts.
• Meanwhile, Vijayan refuted Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s assertion that the state was warned as early as July 23 about a potential natural calamity in Wayanad due to heavy rains. Vijayan clarified that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had only issued an orange alert for the district prior to the landslides. However, Wayanad experienced over 500 millimeters of rainfall, far exceeding the IMD’s predictions.
• Massive landslides triggered by torrential rains struck the picturesque hamlets of Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha in the early hours of Tuesday, killing over 250 people, including women and children.

(With inputs from agencies)