Wayanad: A major landslide was reported at Kalladi near Meppady in Wayanad on Tuesday, July 7, killing two and trapping several others under the debris.
The death toll is likely to rise.
The landslide occurred near Meenakshi Bridge at Kalladi, where work on a tunnel road project connecting Kozhikode and Wayanad districts was going on. The work started last year.
Rescue operations are being carried out by teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Fire and Rescue Services, police, Forest Department personnel and residents.
Locals rescued three persons from the site, where workers associated with the tunnel project were staying. There are also a few houses and homestays in the area.
Chilling landslide video from Wayanad
‘Run fast, friends,’ are the words heard in the background of the shocking visuals of the disaster that have emerged. A huge mud mound slides onto the road and bridge near Kalladi as several people, including women, attempt to outrun the landslide.
The terrifying visuals showed the mudslide spilling onto the road and rushing as a huge wave over the bridge, dragging along a tanker lorry parked there, all the way to the other side where some commercial establishments were located.
“Run fast, friends. Take a photo,” the eyewitness could be heard saying in the brief video clip, aired on TV channels, shot from beyond the bridge.
A video clip from the CCTV cameras of one of the establishments showed several persons trying to outrun the cascade of mud. A lorry slams into a parked jeep and then a man and a woman are caught between the two vehicles.
They miraculously survived the terrifying incident.
Search on for trapped workers
The district administration began evacuating families as rescue operations gathered steam to search for seven missing persons. The injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals.
As heavy rain continued in the area and to prevent any further danger, families residing in a nearby colony were shifted from the locality.
The evacuees will be accommodated at Meppady, where temporary arrangements have been made for their stay, officials said.
The Kalladi-Meppady road was blocked following the landslide.
No tunnelling work since June 12: Engineers
Engineers associated with the tunnel project told media that no tunnelling work had been carried out since June 12 and that only reinforcement and safety-related works were in progress.
According to them, around 15 workers had been deployed to the designated mud disposal area to construct a gabion wall and undertake slope protection work when the landslide occurred.
An engineer at the site said the landslide did not originate from the tunnel or the active construction zone.
“The collapse occurred within a fraction of a second on a slope located at the extreme left edge, outside the designated construction boundary. Within three to four seconds, the debris rushed towards the Meenakshi Bridge area,” he said.
He said members of the technical team stationed on the other side of the Meenakshi Bridge escaped safely, but several others were caught in the sudden flow of mud.
The engineer said that an office was functioning at the place where the landslide took place.
“At the time of the incident, seven to eight workers were engaged in protection work or moving through the area, four to five security personnel were stationed nearby to monitor the slope, and two to three DBL engineers were positioned outside the primary construction perimeter,” the engineer said.
A senior government official told reporters here that there were no workers at the site and those feared trapped under the mud were engineers and security staff.
“If work was going on there, it would have been a bigger tragedy,” she contended.
CM Satheesan reviews rescue operations
Chief Minister VD Satheesan reached the office of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) in Thiruvananthapuram and reviewed the situation.
Speaking to reporters, he confirmed one death in the landslide, and seven persons are admitted to hospitals. The chief minister also said that another seven persons are missing.
He said that the contractors had been told much in advance by the Public Works Department Minister P K Basheer and the District Collector to remove the huge quantity of mud accumulated in the area.
“However, the contractors did not abide by the directions,” the CM said after reviewing the situation with officials of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) at their office.
“It is an unfortunate incident. Rescue efforts are going on,” he added.
Responding to a question from reporters, Satheesan said that non-issuance of an appropriate weather alert was not the reason for the landslide, and it was caused due to the mud not being removed in time as directed by the authorities.
Wayanad tunnel site landslide man-made: Agriculture Minister
Kerala Minister T Siddique said the incident was not a natural landslide but a “man-made landslide” caused by the unscientific dumping of excavated earth.
“This is not a natural landslide. It is a man-made landslide. It happened due to the unscientific dumping of excavated earth,” he said.
The minister said concerns over the manner in which excavated earth was being dumped at the site had been raised earlier after heavy rains in Wayanad.
Directions had been issued to assess the situation, remove the accumulated earth and stop work if required, he said. “The government will examine why this happened and why the earlier directions were not followed,” Siddique said.
He said that the mud was dumped in a similar fashion at the Wayanad Township project, where houses are constructed for the survivors of the 2024 landslide.
The minister said the Wayanad District Collector had reached the spot and Kerala State Disaster Management Authority Chairman Sekhar Kuriakose had been asked to coordinate the rescue operations at all levels.
Additionally, a defence force was ready at Thrissur for being deployed at the site if required, he said.
Red alert issued
A red alert was issued by the IMD on Tuesday in Wayanad, where very heavy rainfall was received in Mananthavady and Vythiri areas during the day.
The alert was issued at 12.30 pm after the landslide at the Kalladi tunnel project site in Wayanad at around 11 am.
A red alert was also sounded in the neighbouring Kozhikode district by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), while orange alerts were issued in the Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts of the state.
The Mananthavady area received 64 mm of rainfall, and Vythiri received 123 mm during the day.
A red alert indicates extremely heavy rainfall of over 204 mm in 24 hours, while an orange alert means very heavy rain of 115 mm to 204 mm, and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 64 mm to 115 mm.
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