Three workers were killed and eight others reportedly injured in a landslide in Wayanad district on Tuesday. The landslide, which occurred at Kalladi near Meppady, hit a tunnel project underway, trapping several workers.
The India Meterological Department has issued a red alert for the district. Chief Minister VD Satheesan said search is on for the missing workers.
The workers were employed for a tunnel road project connecting Malappuram and Wayanad districts, according to officials involved in the rescue mission. “It is an unfortunate incident. Rescue efforts are going on,” Satheesan said while speaking to reporters.
Meanwhile, the weather department sounded a red alert in Wayanad with heavy downpour recorded in the district’s Mananthavady and Vythiri areas. The landslide hit the Kalladi tunnel project site in Wayanad at around 11 am on Tuesday, following which a red alert was issued at 12.30 pm. A red alert was also issued for neighbouring Kozhikode district with orange alerts in Malappuram, Kannur and Kasaragod.
Rescue operations at the site of the landslide are underway with teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Fire and Rescue Services, police, forest department personnel and local residents joining the efforts. Eight people, Hira Kumar (32), Dileep (19), Suraj Yadav (25), Sanjay Thakur (35), Rajneesh (27), Tanmay Ghosh (28), Koopamal (Jaya) (37), and Kunju (39), rescued from the landslide-affected area have been shifted to Meppadi WIMS Hospital for treatment.
The district administration has started evacuating residents living near the site of the disaster as heavy rains continue. The families residing in a nearby colony were shifted from the locality.
Keralam Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala directed the Fire Force Chief and the Wayanad District Police Chief to intensify rescue operations in the landslide-affected areas of Wayanad.
A relief camp has been opened at Chulikka Government LP School, and residents from homes in the affected area are being shifted there.
Keralam Chief Minister VD Satheesan said the collapse at the Wayanad tunnel construction site was an “unfortunate disaster” and alleged that contractors had failed to comply with repeated directions from the authorities to remove excavated soil, even after warnings from the District Disaster Management Authority.
Keralam Agriculture Minister T Siddique called the disaster “manmade”, saying it was a consequence of “unscientific dumping” linked to the ongoing tunnel project. “It's a disaster perpetuated by unscientific dumping of soil and mud as part of the tunnel project. There were indications of such actions and they were raised at meetings of Konkan Railways officials. But it seems no corrective steps were taken,” Siddique said.
“It is a clear case of lapse. The District Collector had given in writing to Konkan Railways regarding the chance of a landslide at the site. Two teams comprising 60 NDRF personnel from Wayanad and Kozhikode have been directed to the site,” he said.
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