Wayanad rescue ops enter 5th day, death toll at 215

As rescue operations in the landslide-hit areas of this north Kerala district entered fifth day, rescuers unearthed more bodies and body parts, taking the death toll to 215, with around 206 people still reported missing.

Huge boulders and logs brought by landslides and deposited in the residential areas of Mundakkai and Chooralmala, as well as the waterlogged terrain, are posing a significant challenge to rescue efforts.

In a bid to locate people still believed to be trapped beneath the debris in landslide-ravaged villages, deep search radars will be deployed in the affected areas, a Defence PRO said on Saturday.

The Kerala government has requested the deployment of advanced radar equipment, including one Xaver radar and four Reeco radars, which will be airlifted from Delhi in an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, along with their operators.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the search and rescue operations have entered their final stages, but 206 people are still missing.

Addressing the media here, he said there is difficulty in identifying the dead bodies and parts recovered from the Chaliyar river.

"Till now, 215 bodies have been recovered, of which 87 are women, 98 are men, and 30 are children. As many as 148 bodies have been handed over so far. There are 206 people missing. Eighty-one people are injured and are under treatment in various hospitals," he said.

Referring to the rehabilitation efforts, Vijayan said a secure region will be identified and a township will be constructed.

He said the education minister will visit the schools destroyed in the region, and the education department will take the necessary steps to ensure that the studies of the disaster-struck children will continue.

The day also saw the arrival of Malayalam superstar Mohanlal in the landslides ravaged areas of Mundakkai and Chooralmala, in his capacity as an honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army, to oversee the search and rescue operations.

Donning army fatigues, the actor held a brief discussion with officers at the Army camp in Meppadi before visiting Chooralmala, Mundakkai and Punchirimattom, among other places, and interacting with the various rescue workers, including the Army and the locals, to get an understanding of the gravity of the incident.

At the landslides-hit areas, Mohanlal, who was conferred the Lt Colonel post in the territorial army in 2009, was briefed about the search and rescue operations by the army officers and thereafter, he interacted with mediapersons.

During his interaction, he said that it was one of the worst natural disasters ever seen in the country and thanked everyone involved in every aspect of the search and rescue operations.

The actor also said that the Viswasanthi Foundation, founded by him, has pledged Rs three crore for the rehabilitation works in the disaster-hit region.

Actor-cum-director and retired army officer Major Ravi, who accompanied Mohanlal, said that as managing director of the foundation, he was promising that they would rebuild the Mundakkai LP school, which stands in ruins in the wake of the landslides.

Meanwhile, the issue of making donations to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF) created a ripple within the Congress over the announcement by senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala that he would donate to it one month's salary, which he draws as an MLA.

The announcement drew a sharp reaction from his party colleague and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief, K Sudhakaran, who, on Saturday, expressed displeasure by saying that there was no need to give money to the funds managed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left government.

"There was no directive (from the KPCC) to contribute to the government's fund (CMDRF)," Sudhakaran told a news channel.

He said Congress was raising funds to help the affected people, and Chennithala should have contributed to that instead.

Sudhakaran's statement comes amidst online smear campaigns discouraging people from sending funds to the CMDRF.

The police have lodged 39 first information reports (FIRs) till Friday in connection with the smear campaigns against the CM's Facebook post requesting help for the people affected by the landslides in Wayanad district.

The police had also said that, as of Friday, 279 social media accounts were found campaigning against donations to the CMDRF and that notices had been issued to remove these.

However, despite the smear campaigns, people from all walks of life -- be it an elderly tea stall owner or children -- have been reportedly donating their meagre earnings or pocket money of varying amounts to the fund.