The number of fatalities resulting from the landslides in Wayanad, Kerala, has risen to 344, as rescue teams hurriedly employed deep search radars in their efforts to locate survivors who may be trapped beneath the rubble and within collapsed structures, as reported in the most recent update from the state government.
In response to the crisis, the Kerala government sought assistance from the Centre for the provision of deep search radars to enhance the rescue efforts. An Xaver radar from the Northern Command, along with four Reeco radars from the Tiranga Mountain Rescue Organisation in Delhi, were transported to Wayanad via an Air Force aircraft on Saturday.
More than 200 individuals are still unaccounted for, with private companies specializing in search and rescue, along with volunteers, participating in the ongoing rescue efforts on the fifth day. The Indian Army, Kerala Police, and emergency service units are leading the operations.
WAYANAD RESCUE OPERATIONS UPDATE
- More than 1,300 rescuers are currently conducting search and rescue operations in the aftermath of the Wayanad landslides, using heavy machinery and advanced equipment to locate survivors.
- Malayalam actor Mohanlal, who is also a lieutenant colonel, is scheduled to arrive in Wayanad today to oversee the ongoing rescue efforts and engage with the rescue officials.
- The Kerala government has released a set of guidelines, which includes the collection of DNA and dental samples, as well as procedures for the burial of remains. These guidelines require the assignment of an identification number to each body or body part.
- According to the guidelines, this identification number must be clearly indicated on all samples, photographs, or videos of the remains, as well as in the records of material objects associated with the body.
- Law enforcement authorities are instructed to make every possible effort to identify the bodies or body parts. If identification is not feasible, the bodies should be handed over to the district administration for further action after 72 hours from the time of inquest.
- In the meantime, three unidentified bodies have been cremated at the Kalpatta public crematorium in accordance with the state government’s guidelines for the cremation or burial of bodies following the Wayanad landslides.
- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who visited Wayanad on Thursday and Friday, remarked that Kerala has never experienced a tragedy as severe as the recent landslides in Wayanad. He expressed his intention to address this issue with both the Kerala government and the central authorities.
- Additionally, Rahul Gandhi announced that the Congress party plans to construct over 100 homes for families affected by the landslides in the district.
- In a separate incident, six children were successfully rescued from a remote tribal area following an eight-hour operation conducted by officials from the Kerala forest department in Wayanad. Furthermore, a family of four was saved from their residence in Mundakkai, which has been identified as one of the most severely impacted regions by the disaster.
- In related news, the central government has released a new draft notification aimed at designating more than 56,800 square kilometers of the Western Ghats across six states, including 13 villages in Wayanad, as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA). This notification invites public suggestions and objections within a 60-day period.
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- The draft proposes to classify 3.7 square kilometers in Kerala, encompassing 13 villages across two talukas in the landslide-affected Wayanad, as ecologically sensitive.
- The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for heavy rainfall in Wayanad for Saturday and Sunday, with precipitation expected to continue in the district until August 6.