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Wayanad landslides: The death toll in the tragedy has risen to 344. On Saturday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that 206 people were still reported to be missing and the search and rescue operations were in their final stage.
As search operations enter the fifth day on Saturday (Aug 3), rescue teams, using advanced technical gadgets and dogs, continue to look for survivors or recover bodies buried under the debris of the devastating Wayanad landslides, one of Kerala’s worst natural calamities.
The District administration likely failed to take hands-on steps to shift residents from the banks of Chaliyar even after receiving heavy rainfall alert hours before tragedy struck the Chooralmala and Mundakkai regions in Wayanad.
It is learnt that authorities failed to shift hundreds of families to relief camps.
Wayanad landslides latest updates:
1. The death toll in the tragedy has risen to 344. On Saturday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that 206 people were still reported to be missing and the search and rescue operations were in their final stage.
2. Around 40 rescue teams, along with cadaver dogs, are conducting search operations in six zones of the landslide-hit areas.
3. Rahul Gandhi, announced on Friday (Aug 2) that the Congress party will construct more than 100 houses for the victims of the devastating landslides in Wayanad, Kerala.
4. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a cloudy sky with occasional spells of rain or thundershowers for Wayanad on Saturday.
5. The Centre issued a draft notification to declare over 56,800 square kilometres of the Western Ghats, including 13 villages in Kerala’s Wayanad, as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
6. Kerala General Education Minister, V Sivankutty, on Friday said at least 49 children have either been missing or are dead in the devastating landslides that hit Wayanad.
(With inputs from agencies)