344 dead in Wayanad landslides, deep search radars used to find survivors

Mangalore Today News Network

Wayanad, August 3, 2024: The death toll in Kerala’s Wayanad landslides reached 344 as rescuers raced against time and used deep search radars in a bid to search for survivors trapped under the debris and in collapsed houses, according to the latest update by the state government.

The Kerala government had requested the Centre to send deep search radars to aid in the rescue operations. One Xaver radar from Northern Command and four Reeco radars from Tiranga Mountain Rescue Organisation, Delhi, along with Delhi were airlifted in an Air Force Aircraft to Wayanad on Saturday.

Over 200 people remain missing as private companies specialising in the field of search and rescue and volunteers joined the rescue operations that entered the fifth day and were led by the Indian Army, Kerala Police and emergency service units.

WAYANAD RESCUE OPERATIONS UPDATE

1. Over 1,300 rescuers are searching through destroyed buildings and under the debris with heavy machinery and sophisticated equipment to look for survivors.

2. Malayalam superstar Mohanlal is expected to reach Wayanad today to oversee the rescue operations. Mohanlal, who is also a lieutenant colonel, will reach the army camp and interact with the rescue officials.

3. The Kerala government has issued guidelines, including collection of DNA and dental samples and for burial of the remains. As per the guidelines, an identification number should be assigned to each body or body part.

4. The identification number should be clearly mentioned in all the samples, photographs or videos of the remains and the record of material objects associated with the body, according to the guidelines.

5. Police should make all possible efforts to identify the bodies or body parts and if identification is not possible, they should release the body to the district administration for further action after 72 hours from the time of inquest.

6. Meanwhile, three unidentified bodies were cremated at the Kalpatta public crematorium. The cremation was done as part of the guidelines of the state government for cremation or burial of bodies in the wake of the Wayanad landslides.

7. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who visited Wayanad on Thursday and Friday said Kerala never witnessed such a devastating tragedy as the landslides in Wayanad. He said he would raise the issue with the Kerala government and Centre.

 Rahul Gandhi also said that the Congress will build over 100 houses for the affected families in the landslide-hit district.

8. Six children were rescued from a remote tribal settlement after an eight-hour operation by Kerala forest department officials in Wayanad. Separately, a family of four were rescued from their house in Mundakkai, one of the worst affected areas due to the calamity.

9. Meanwhile, the Centre issued a fresh draft notification to declare over 56,800 square kilometres of the Western Ghats across six states, including 13 villages in Wayanad, an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), inviting suggestions and objections within 60 days.

The draft notification proposes to declare 3.7 sq km in Kerala, including 13 villages in two talukas of the landslide-hit Wayanad, as ecologically sensitive.

10. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for heavy rainfall for Saturday and Sunday in Wayanad. Rainfall is predicted to lash the district till August 6.