Wayanad Landslides: Rescue Ops Intensified As Death Toll At 308, Drone-Based Radar To Look For Survivors

A massive rescue operation involving officials from the Defence, Police Department, and Fire, besides local residents, is currently underway at the four worst landslide-hit areas in Kerala's Wayanad.

A massive rescue operation involving officials from the Defence, Police Department, and Fire, besides local residents, is currently underway at the four worst landslide-hit areas in Kerala's Wayanad.

Source : PTI

Wayanad Landslides: As the search and rescue operations in the landslides that struck Kerala’s Wayanad entered its fourth day, more than 300 people lost their lives, with scores of people still missing. 

A massive rescue operation involving officials from the Defence, Police Department, and Fire, besides local residents, is currently underway at the four worst landslide-hit areas of Wayanad district: Chooramala, Velarimala, Mundakayil, and Pothukalu.

According to Kerala Health Minister Veena George, the current death toll stands at 308. Citing unofficial sources, Malayalam news portal Manorama Online reported that 308 people were missing.

#WATCH | Kerala: Search and rescue operations continue at landslide-affected Chooralmala in Wayanad.

The current death toll stands at 308, as per Kerala Health Minister Veena George pic.twitter.com/CY0iOuPHf4

— ANI (@ANI) August 2, 2024

As the rescuers race against time to search for survivors, news agency IANS reported that more than 8,000 people have been evacuated safely and put up in 82 relief camps.

Here Are Latest Updates 

• Rescue operations are set to be further intensified to include a drone-based radar to search for the survivors, as per a report by India Today.
• Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday chaired an all-party meeting at Wayanad and thanked the massive efforts of the multi-pronged rescue team comprising over 1,200 professionals.
• The massive rescue operation, involving personnel from all three defence forces, police, disaster relief agencies, and fire services, besides locals and volunteers, is currently on at the four worst-affected landslide areas of Wayanad -- Churalpara, Velarimala, Mundakayil, and Pothukalu.
• Vijayan said the army has informed him that there is no chance of any more survivors in the worst-affected areas. However, a bailey bridge at Churalmala is now ready and will enable big earth-moving equipment to reach places which have been cut off. "Now the need of the hour is for a proper rehabilitation programme and for that we have already started to work on it. We do have a good experience of handling rehabilitation and hence it will be done," he said.
• Telecom operators are augmenting and restoring connectivity on a war footing in the landslide-hit areas to ensure communications between rescue teams, government officials and the public, an official statement said on Thursday, as reported by PTI. The telecom infrastructure has been augmented and restored to provide continuous coverage in Wayanad by operators BSNL, Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, the statement said.
• Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi along with party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, visited the landslides-hit Wayanad in Kerala, on Thursday. Both the leaders reached one of the landslide site in Chooralmala and also met the injured at a hospital. They expressed their condolences by sharing the grief of the victims and assured them all possible support for their rehabilitation.
• The Indian Army on Thursday completed the construction of a Bailey bridge, connecting the landslide-hit Chooralmala and Mundakai in Wayanad, Kerala. The 190-ft-long bridge has been constructed to boost rescue operation in the region and has a weight capacity of 24 tonne.
• ADGP, Law & Order Kerala, MR Ajith Kumar said, "In the last four days we have been doing operations here. A joint team of the Indian army, the NDRF, the local police, special operations groups, the fire force, the Coast Guard and the Navy have been operating in all these areas... The revenue department is still trying to collect the data and find out how many people are here and how many people are missing. We have so far recovered more than 200 bodies and body parts," as quoted by ANI. 
• Approximately 300 people still missing, said Kerala ADGP M R Ajith Kumar.
   
• Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Thursday announced that West Bengal will be sending a two-member delegation to the flood and landslide-affected Wayanad in Kerala. According to a statement issued by CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, Rajya Sabha MPs Saket Gokhale and Sushmita Dev will visit Wayanad.
• Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra leave from a hotel in Wayanad of Kerala after attending a party meeting. Both the leaders will visit Chooralmala landslide-affected areas.
  

  VIDEO | Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi), Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) leave from a hotel in #Wayanad, Kerala, after attending a party meeting.
  
  (Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/7En3Mv1V3o

  — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 2, 2024

  
  
  

• Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has instructed Chief Secretary V. Venu to retract a controversial directive issued by the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA). This directive had prohibited science and technology institutions from sharing their insights and study reports with the media regarding the recent fatal landslides in Wayanad.

• Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi meet Meppadi Gram Panchayat delegation to understand their concerns and needs in the wake of the devastating landslides.
• Indian Army jawans construct a temporary bridge for the machinery to pass through to facilitate search and rescue operation in Punchirimattom of Wayanad.
  
  

  #WATCH | Kerala: Indian Army jawans construct a temporary bridge for the machinery to pass through, to facilitate search and rescue operation. Visuals from Punchirimattom, Wayanad.
  
  Search and rescue operation in landslide-affected areas in Wayanad, entered 5th day today. The… pic.twitter.com/FKrBiiI4qp

  — ANI (@ANI) August 3, 2024

• Malayalam superstar Mohanlal to visit Wayanad on Saturday. He has reached Kozhikode and is expected to reach Wayanad in the morning. Mohanlal, who is also a lieutenant colonel, will visit the disaster area after reaching the army camp. He is also the first actor in the country to be awarded the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel in the territorial army.