No estimate of exact number of missing people yet

As a massive search operation is underway at Mundakkai region in landslide-hit Wayanad with a team of over 3,000 rescue workers, the authorities and locals are still grappling to determine the exact number of people missing.

According to the state government, an estimated 191 people are missing, though official sources indicate that the actual number may be much higher.

The rescue operators are contending with adverse conditions, including muddy soil and rain, as they search through destroyed homes and buildings.

State Revenue Minister K Rajan, who is in the disaster-struck region, coordinating the rescue efforts, told the media that the authorities are yet to finalise the number of missing people.

“Initially, we used the voter list to identify the missing persons. But since it does not contain the details of the children, we are now relying on ration cards and other details. We are trying to identify the missing people by checking the ration card details and with the help of Asha workers and the anganwadi workers,” Rajan said.

He said the rescue mission at Mundakkai is a massive one, as usually an incident like this will be limited to one or two kilometres, but in this case, the disaster has struck a massive area.

“Bodies were recovered from the Chaliyar river at Pothukal (in Malappuram district). That shows the huge impact of this incident,” Rajan said.

On Wednesday, the DYFI workers scouted the nearby forest areas and recovered over 30 bodies.

The Pothukal area of Chaliyar River is around 8 km from Mundakkai.

Even as the rescue operations are progressing, there are no exact details of the number of workers from the nearby tea estate, which was also an affected area.

Sources from Mundakkai said there were migrant workers staying at the quarters of the tea estate, which was swept away.

“We are not sure whether they had shifted to some safer place or they were hit by the landslide,” a local told the media.

Information regarding the migrant workers is not available, as the tea estate manager is also missing, the residents said.

On Thursday morning, rescue workers managed to reach Chooralmala where a trail of destruction could be seen, with massive boulders scattered everywhere and numerous houses buried or swept away.

Villagers said that the whole landscape has changed.