- Landslides in Kerala kill 151 people
- Nearly 1,000 rescued; 187 missing
- Heavy monsoon rains caused devastation
Hundreds of rescue workers are sifting through mud and rubble from multiple landslides in Kerala, southern India, which have killed at least 151 people, according to authorities.
Officials reported on Wednesday that almost 1,000 people had been rescued, and 187 were still missing after landslides caused by unrelenting monsoon rains struck the hills of Wayanad district early Tuesday morning.
Heavy rain in one of India’s most popular tourist destinations destroyed hillsides, dumping torrents of mud, water, and cascading boulders into tea and cardamom fields and small towns – the state’s greatest calamity since catastrophic floods in 2018.
The Indian Army says it rescued 1,000 people and has started building an additional bridge after the central bridge connecting the worst-hit Mundakkai region to the neighboring town of Chooralmala was washed away.
Mundakkai is in a disaster-prone location. However, the streaming soil, gravel, and rock reached the town of Chooralmala, which is 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) distant.
“The landslides started at the summit and spread to the lower valleys, where people stayed. The focus right now is to explore the entire upland region for stranded persons and recover as many dead [as possible],” MR Ajith Kumar, a state police and order official, told Reuters.
More than a dozen bodies were discovered overnight, according to police officer Aijaz, who goes by one name. Over 300 rescuers worked to free individuals trapped beneath mud and rubble, but hefty rainfall, blocked roads, and unstable terrain impeded their efforts.
According to Kerala’s Asianet TV channel and district officials, 350 of the 400 registered houses in the impacted region have been damaged.
The first landslide occurred at 2 a.m. on Tuesday (20:30 GMT Monday) and another two hours later.
According to local media, most victims worked on tea estates. Television images showed rescue workers wading through muck and uprooted trees to reach the stranded.
Vehicles swept off the roadways were found stranded in a raging river. Local TV news programs also aired phone calls from stranded persons requesting assistance.
After a day of impeded rescue operations, the weather service anticipates some relief on Wednesday, though the area will likely see rain throughout the day.
According to a statement from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, at least 572mm (22.5 inches) of rain fell two days before the landslide.
According to Vijayan in a statement issued by his office, several places, including Meppadi, Mundakkai, and Chooralmala, were isolated, and roads were washed away, inflicting significant damage to residences.
“Efforts to locate missing persons continue with allall available resources.” The government added that more than 3,000 people have been relocated to relief camps, and it is ensuring that food and other necessities are delivered there.
In a post on social networking site X on Tuesday night, Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who previously represented Wayanad in Parliament, stated that he could not visit the disaster area.
He stated that authorities have advised us that we cannot land due to the constant rain and bad weather conditions. Our thoughts are with the people of Wayanad during this terrible time.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his” “distress”s” over the landslides and provided 200,000 rupees ($2,388) in compensation for the victims of the victims.
Monsoon rains in South Asia from June to September provide relief from the summer heat and are critical for replenishing water resources. They are essential for agriculture, ensuring the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security for region’sgion’s two billion people.
However, they also cause havoc in the form of landslides and floods. Fatal floods and landslides have risen in recent years, and experts believe climate change is compounding the situation.
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Landslides are part of these climate change-induced heavy rainfall disasters,” Kartiki Negi of Climate Trends, an Indian environmental research tank, told “FP.
“India will continue to see more and more of these kinds of impacts in the future,” she told reporters.
India’s damming, deforestation, and development initiatives have increased the human toll.
Heavy monsoon rains hit India this month, flooding areas of the financial hub Mumbai, while lightning struck the eastern state of Bihar, killing at least ten people.
Nearly 500 people were murdered in Kerala in 2018 after the worst flooding in almost a century.
