Wayanad landslides LIVE | Kerala CM: We will build a new, safer township for survivors
Kerala CM orders withdrawal of controversial note restricting scientists' comments on landslides
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has directed Chief Secretary V Venu to withdraw a controversial note issued by the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), which restrained science and technology institutions in the state from sharing their opinions and study reports with the media regarding the recent deadly landslides in Wayanad.
In a statement on Thursday night, Vijayan said the news that the SDMA had directed scientific institutions and scientists not to visit the disaster-affected Meppadi Panchayat in Wayanad and not to express their opinions was misleading.
"The state government does not have such a policy," the chief minister said. "The Chief Secretary has been directed to immediately intervene and withdraw the communication that conveyed such a message," he said.
Earlier, the scientific community had strongly protested against the note prepared by State Relief Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, Tinku Biswal, which directed all science and technology institutions in the state not to undertake any field visits to Meppadi Panchayat in Wayanad, where several people were killed in the devastating landslides on Tuesday.
40 teams of rescuers commence search operations
Braving rains and adverse terrain, 40 teams of rescuers began search operations in landslide-hit Wayanad district on the fourth day on Friday, officials said.
The search and rescue operations that got underway early morning received an impetus due to the completion of the 190-foot-long Bailey bridge that will enable the movement of heavy machinery, including excavators, and ambulances to the worst-affected Mundakkai and Chooralmala hamlets, they said.
The 40 teams will conduct search operations in six zones of the landslides-hit areas -- Attamala and Aaranmala (first), Mundakkai (second), Punchirimattam (third), Vellarimala village (fourth), GVHSS Vellarimala (fifth), and riverbank (sixth).
The joint teams will include personnel from the army, NDRF, DSG, Coast Guard, Navy, and MEG along with three locals and one forest department employee.
In addition to this, a three-pronged search operation will begin, focusing on the Chaliyar River, according to the rescue plan devised by the authorities.
The eight police stations, along the 40-km stretch of Chaliyar, will join forces with local swimming experts to search the river for bodies that may have flown downstream or are trapped along the riverbanks.
Simultaneously, another search operation will be conducted using a police helicopter.
Besides this, the Coast Guard, Navy, and Forest Department will jointly conduct a search operation focusing on the riverbanks and areas where bodies may be trapped, according to the rescue plan.
State Revenue Minister K Rajan, a day ago, had said that a drone-based radar from Delhi would arrive on Saturday to locate bodies buried in the mud.
He also said that currently, six dogs are assisting in the search operation and four more will arrive in Wayanad from Tamil Nadu.