Wayanad: The picturesque district of Wayanad has been struck by a catastrophic series of landslides, leading to a staggering death toll of over 190, with at least 225 people reported missing. The calamity has left hundreds injured and displaced thousands from their homes.
As dawn broke on Wednesday, rescue operations resumed with urgency, hoping to find any remaining survivors trapped under the debris. The operations, initially halted due to the treacherous weather and darkness, have intensified with the deployment of military personnel and specialized rescue teams.
The Army has announced the successful rescue of nearly 1,000 individuals, as multiple agencies coordinate to deliver critical aid to the affected regions. Teams from the Army, Navy, and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are meticulously combing through the collapsed structures and rubble, seeking out victims and potential survivors.
In the heart-wrenching aftermath, the Mundakkai hamlet, now synonymous with devastation, presents harrowing scenes of destruction. Bodies were found inside the remnants of what were once homes, a stark reminder of the tragedy that struck overnight. Rescue teams managed to reach these previously inaccessible areas only on Wednesday morning, highlighting the severe isolation faced by many communities.
A Defence spokesperson revealed that soldiers from the 122 Infantry Battalion of the Territorial Army, stationed at a local school in Meppadi, mobilized quickly to the disaster-hit zones. Reinforcements, including disaster relief experts, medical teams, and essential equipment, have been dispatched from Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru to Calicut by both road and air, enhancing the rescue efforts.
The massive landslides, triggered by relentless heavy rains, wreaked havoc across the villages of Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha early Tuesday. The natural disaster obliterated homes, swelled water bodies, uprooted trees, and effectively erased entire villages from the map.
Desperate cries for help were captured in phone conversations, painting a grim picture of residents trapped in their homes or stranded amidst the destruction. The landslides, which struck between 1:30 a.m. and 4 a.m., caught most of the victims off guard in their sleep. The catastrophic deluge, coupled with massive boulders and uprooted trees, swept down from Mundakkai to Chooralmala, causing unparalleled destruction. The surge of water from the hilltops transformed the Iruvazhinji river, flooding everything along its banks, destroying houses, submerging a temple and a mosque, and severely damaging a school building.
The District Emergency Operation Centre has been actively compiling data to account for the residents of the affected areas, those who have been found, and the missing. This effort involves scrutinizing ration card details and other government documents to get an accurate count.
In a bid to provide immediate relief, 45 relief camps have been set up across Wayanad, offering shelter to 3,069 people. The situation remains precarious as an orange alert has been issued for several districts, including Wayanad, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, and Kasaragod, warning of the potential for extremely heavy rainfall.
As the rescue operations continue, the fear of increasing fatalities looms large, with hopes pinned on the tireless efforts of the rescue teams to save as many lives as possible amidst this unprecedented natural disaster
