Heavy rain triggered landslides in Kerala’s Wayanad on Tuesday and left at least 36 people dead and scores injured even as the collapse of the main bridge linking the affected area to the nearest Chooralmala town was destroyed, hampering rescue operations amid the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast of extremely heavy rain in the southern state through the day.
The authorities roped in the Army to build a temporary bridge to the affected area of mostly tea and cardamom estates in Mundakkai. Many people were feared to have been washed away in the Chaliyar river. TV visuals showed rescuers making their way to the scene of the landslides with muddy water gushing through amid destroyed houses, rocks, and uprooted trees.
Residents said at least three landslides hit the area around midnight and washed away the bridge connecting it. Many people working in the estates, who stayed in makeshift tents, were feared missing.
In a statement, the Army said it has mobilised four columns including two columns for the rescue operations. “The total strength of the Army deployed so far for the rescue operation is approximately 225 including medical personnel.”
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office said two helicopters of the Indian Air Force have been mobilised.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, a former member of Parliament from Wayanad, said he spoke to Vijayan to ensure coordination with all agencies, set up a control room, and inform them of any assistance needed for the relief efforts.
TV visuals showed damage caused to acres of plantations and portions of the market area in Mundakkai as well as homes, cars, and two-wheelers in deep slush.
An official at the district collectorate in Wayanad said bodies have been found at separate places in and around the landslide-hit areas. “Bodies of some people, believed to be from Chooralmala and Mundakkai, have been found in the Chaliyar, kilometres away in Nilambur. The toll will likely go up.”
The collapse of the main bridge connecting Chooralmala with Mundakkai over the swollen Iruvazhinji river dealt the heaviest blow to rescue efforts. The rescuers could not access Mundakkai where hundreds are believed to be trapped.
Revenue minister K Rajan, who rushed to Wayanad, said attempts were being made to build a temporary pontoon bridge over the river to reach the affected locality. He added two choppers from the Sulur air base in Coimbatore were airborne and would reach Wayanad shortly. Rajan said National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams in Thrissur and Kozhikode were being kept in reserve as reports of heavy rain and related damage were being reported in other districts of the state as well.
Forest minister AK Saseendran, who was in Wayanad, said 66 people were currently being treated in local hospitals.
Vijayan, who was coordinating the relief measures from the state capital, said it was too early to assess the losses of life and property and that the picture would be clearer in the coming hours. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he spoke to Vijayan over the phone, assured all help, and announced a compensation of ₹2 lakh each to the families of those killed.
Union minister George Kurian, who is from Kerala, said Modi is overseeing all relief measures. “The state government and the Centre will work together to offer all possible help to the people in affected areas.“
The IMD has issued an alert in Kasarakode, Kannur, Wayanad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode districts even as heavy rains, dense fog, and the bridge collapse hampered relief efforts in Chooralmala and Mundakkai.
A 250-member squad of Kerala fire and rescue, civil defence, NDRF, and local and emergency response teams were rushed to the scene.
Block panchayat member Raghavan C Arunamala said they were in Chooralmala but unable to move towards Mundakkai. “…the rain is still heavy and it is hampering the relief efforts. There is dense fog which has affected the visibility of rescue personnel. An important bridge connecting Chooralmala with Mundakkai has been completely washed away.” He added the Iruvazhinji River is overflowing and it is dangerous to cross it. “Without the bridge, it is difficult to get to the affected areas in Mundakkai. The state government has to make alternate arrangements.”
The region is prone to landslides. In 2019, a major landslide hit Meppadi there. “But this is a very serious and big landslide. A lot of houses have been damaged. A portion of the Chooralmala school, which was operating as a relief camp has also been washed away,” said Arunamala.
Vijayan said two ministers had reached Wayanad to oversee relief efforts while three more were on the way.
In 2019, a village was wiped out as a hillside almost melted away, bringing down everything in its path at Puthumala in Wayanad. A hillock collapsed in Mallapuram and buried a village of 44 families around the same time.
The disasters occurred in what ecologist Madhav Gadgil-led committee in 2011 and a high-level working group on the Western Ghats headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation chief K Kasturirangan in 2023 described as the “ecologically sensitive zones” of the Ghats.
In an interview with HT in 2021, Gadgil warned mindless construction in the Western Ghats and the Himalayas were worsening climate disasters. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, which was constituted by the central government and chaired by Gadgil, recommended in 2011 that 75% of the 129,037 sq km of the Western Ghats spanning Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, and Kerala be declared an environmentally sensitive area because of its dense, rich forests and a large number of endemic flora and fauna. The panel’s recommendations were not implemented. Gadgil said the climate crisis and unsustainable land use will trigger bigger disasters on India’s west coast.