Wayanad landslides LIVE | Toll rises to 243; Kerala CM slams Amit Shah on warning claims

The Army has managed to save about 1,000 persons using a temporary bridge, after the permanent structure was washed away following the torrential downpour that triggered the landslides, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Col. Paramvir Singh Nagra, Commandant DSC Centre, said the Army was on alert for the past 15 days and was contacted by the Kerala government on Tuesday morning after the devastating landslides in the hilly district.

This was a “major calamity” and the NDRF and state teams were also actively involved. The Navy and the Air Force were equally contributing, he told PTI.

Sniffer dogs from New Delhi, to be included in the rescue operation, have reached Wayanad.

He said a “bridge has been washed away. So that was a vital part. Now a temporary bridge has been made. With that, approximately 1000 people have been rescued. Two dead bodies have been taken. We have about 20-25 people that side.”

“We are having a coordination meeting. Then we will decide the actions for tomorrow.... The temporary bridge is not that safe for civilians to cross over...I suggest we should hold (the rescue ops),” he said in response to a question on Tuesday.

“Once the day light is there we should put in the efforts,” he added.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday convened a high-level meeting to coordinate rescue operations in Wayanad and discuss further steps in the wake of the massive landslides in the hilly district that claimed the lives of at least 123 people and injured over 128.

At the meeting with top bureaucrats from various departments and senior police officers, Vijayan assessed the rescue operations as well as reviewed the coordination with central government agencies, the deployment of disaster response forces, and the health and safety precautions and facilities in the relief camps, a statement issued by his office said.

He attended the meeting at the office of the Disaster Management Authority, which coordinates rescue operations at the state level.

Climate change, fragile terrain and loss of forest cover created a perfect recipe for the disastrous landslides that struck Kerala’s Wayanad district, according to studies conducted over the years.

According to the landslide atlas released by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) National Remote Sensing Centre last year, 10 out of the 30 most landslide-prone districts in India were in Kerala, with Wayanad ranked 13th.

It said 0.09 million sq km in the Western Ghats and the Konkan hills (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra) were prone to landslides.

“The vulnerability of inhabitants and households is more significant in the Western Ghats due to the very high population and household density, especially in Kerala,” the report read.

A study published by Springer in 2021 said all landslide hotspots in Kerala were in the Western Ghats region and concentrated in Idukki, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Wayanad, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts.

It said about 59 per cent of total landslides in Kerala occurred in plantation areas.

A 2022 study on depleting forest cover in Wayanad showed that 62 per cent of forests in the district disappeared between 1950 and 2018 while plantation cover rose by around 1,800 per cent.

The study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, said around 85 per cent of the total area of Wayanad was under forest cover until the 1950s.

According to scientists, climate change was increasing the possibility of landslides in the Western Ghats, one of the eight “hottest hotspots” of biological diversity in the world.

S Abhilash, director of the Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), told PTI that warming of the Arabian Sea was allowing the formation of deep cloud systems, leading to extremely heavy rainfall in Kerala in a shorter period and increasing the possibility of landslides.

“Our research found that the southeast Arabian Sea is becoming warmer, causing the atmosphere above this region, including Kerala, to become thermodynamically unstable,” Abhilash said.

“This atmospheric instability, allowing the formation of deep clouds, is linked to climate change. Earlier, this kind of rainfall was more common in the northern Konkan belt, north of Mangalore,” he added.

Research by Abhilash and other scientists published in the NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science journal in 2022 found that rainfall over the west coast of India was becoming more convective.

Convective rainfall is often characterised by intense, short-duration showers or thunderstorms in a small area.

Another study by Abhilash and scientists from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and the India Meteorological Department, published in Elsevier in 2021, found that one of the hotspots of heavy rainfall in the Konkan region (between 14 degrees north and 16 degrees north) seemed to have shifted southward, with likely fatal consequences.

“An increase in rainfall intensity may suggest a rising probability of landslides in the high- to mid-land slopes of the Western Ghats in eastern Kerala during the monsoon seasons,” the study said.

The landslides also brought to the fore the unheeded warnings of the “Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel” set up by the government under ecologist Madhav Gadgil.

The panel recommended that the entire hill range be declared an ecologically sensitive area and divided into ecologically sensitive zones based on their ecological sensitivity.

In 2011, it recommended a ban on mining, quarrying, new thermal power plants, hydropower projects and large-scale wind energy projects in ecologically sensitive zone 1.

The recommendations have not been implemented even after 14 years due to resistance from state governments, industries and local communities.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra put off their scheduled Wednesday morning visit to landslide-hit Wayanad after authorities informed them that they would not be able to land due to incessant rain and adverse weather conditions.

The Congress leaders said they would visit the district as soon as possible.

In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said, “Priyanka and I were scheduled to visit Wayanad tomorrow to meet with families affected by the landslide and take stock of the situation. However, due to incessant rains and adverse weather conditions, we have been informed by authorities that we will not be able to land.”

Assuring the people of Wayanad that they would visit the district as soon as possible, Rahul Gandhi said, “In the meantime, we will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide all necessary assistance. Our thoughts are with the people of Wayanad at this difficult time.”

In a post on X, Priyanka Gandhi said, “My brothers and sisters in Wayanad, even though we cannot come to Wayanad tomorrow, our hearts are with you at this tragic hour and we are praying for all of you.”

Rahul Gandhi, who represented Wayanad in the 17th Lok Sabha, said he had spoken to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Wayanad district collector, who assured him that rescue operations were underway. The former Congress chief expressed deep anguish over the loss of lives in the massive landslides near Meppadi.

“My heartfelt condolences go out to the bereaved families who have lost their loved ones. I hope those still trapped are brought to safety soon,” he had said on X.

Rahul Gandhi won Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli and Kerala’s Wayanad seat this time but decided to represent Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha.

Priyanka Gandhi is slated to contest the bypolls in Wayanad whenever they take place.

Two persons from Odisha are missing in the landslides in Kerala’s Wayanad, the CMO has said.

The Odisha government has contacted the Kerala government over the issue.

The chief minister’s office, in a X post, said, “The state government is in regular communication with the Kerala government in view of the massive landslide where many lives were affected in Wayanad. As per the information received from the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority, two rescued Odia people are under treatment while two others are still missing.”

The state government is in touch with the district administration concerned that has contacted the Odia families affected by the calamity, it added.

Heavy engineering equipment and rescue dog teams are being airlifted and disaster relief teams have been dispatched by the Indian Coast Guard after a series of landslides in the hilly areas of Kerala's Wayanad district on Tuesday.

“…300 military personnel were moved forthwith to commence rescue operations. During the day, additional columns of Army, naval teams and helicopters from the Air Force were mobilised to assist the rescue and relief efforts,” the defence minister’s office said on X.

“All out efforts are underway as additional troops, heavy engineering equipment, rescue dog teams and other essential relief stores are being airlifted by service aircraft from Trivandrum, Bengaluru and Delhi,” it added.

The ministry in a statement said the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) district HQ (Kerala & Mahe) and ICG station in Beypore dispatched disaster relief teams (DRT) to the affected areas.

“The DRT comprising highly trained ICG personnel and dedicated medical team have been mobilised to provide immediate relief and support to the communities impacted by the disaster,” it said.

The teams are equipped with essential disaster relief materials such as rubber inflatable boats for rescue operations, diesel-driven pumps to manage water and drainage issues, life jackets for safety, raincoats and gum boots for personnel protection in adverse weather and other earth-clearing implements for clearing debris and accessing affected areas, the statement said.

“The ICG also dispatched food materials, drinking water and other essential supplies to support the affected population. The distribution of these supplies is being coordinated with the district disaster management team to ensure efficient aid delivery. ICG is working closely with local authorities to mitigate the impact of this disaster,” it added.

The state government has requested the deployment of a 690-feet Bailey bridge. Currently, up to 330 feet of the bridge is being moved from the Madras Engineer Group Centre, Bangalore, by road. The remaining parts are being airlifted from Delhi Cantonment, the Army said late on Tuesday.

Two additional columns from the 91 Infantry Brigade in Thiruvananthapuram are on standby and will be airlifted by the Indian Air Force (IAF), it added.

Army officials said a control centre was being established in Kozhikode under Brigadier Arjun Segan, commandant of the Para Regimental Training Centre. This centre will coordinate all HADR efforts on the ground.

Teams from the 122 TA Battalion are assisting the NDRF in rescue operations and damage assessment. The Indian Army is coordinating closely with state authorities to ensure swift and effective relief efforts, officials added.

One 110-feet Bailey bridge is being airlifted from Delhi. Additional engineering resources will be mobilised based on assessments by the engineer recce team, they said.

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose reached Kerala’s Calicut on Tuesday night to take stock of the relief work underway in Wayanad.

The 73-year-old Bose, who is from Kerala, will be visiting hospitals and relief camps and also facilitate rescue and relief operations.

In a post on X, Raj Bhavan said Bose has spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh regarding the rescue operations.

“Governor Bose has reached Calicut Airport on his way to the landslide hit Meppadi in the Wayanad Hills. He is in touch with the central and state agencies engaged in relief operations,” said a statement from Raj Bhavan.

“He is in close touch with the Chief Minister of Kerala,” the Raj Bhavan added.

“The Governor asserts that India will stand together and face the calamity with determination and confidence. The whole nation stands in solidarity with the victims,” the post read.