As many as 17 persons have been killed and 54 still missing in a landslide at Pettimudi, about 20 kilometres from Munnar, a major tourist destination in Idukki district in Kerala.
Many parts of Kerala are also under the grip of calamities owing to heavy rains over the last few days, posing a major challenge to rescue operations amidst Covid-19 spike.
It is for the third year in a row that Kerala is witnessing major natural calamities in the month of August, claiming around 500 lives in 2018 and 125 in 2019.
According to the Idukki district administration, the landslide at Pettimudi took place by around 11.30 pm on Thursday at the Nayamakkad estate of Kannan Devan Hills and Plantations. Settlement clusters of plantation workers comprising 30 rooms in four lines in which 83 persons were staying were reduced to debris as earth and rock caved in. The outer world came across the incident only by the morning after someone informed the nearest forest office.
Power supply to the area allegedly remained affected over the last three days owing to rough weather, which affected the communication to outer world.
A woman who had a narrow escape from the mishap told reporters that since it was total darkness in the area they came across the severity of the incident only by dawn.
Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) and police personnel rushed to the spot and NDRF also followed. Tough terrain, damages caused to a bridge to the spot and rough weather affected the accessibility to the region and rescue operation. The 17 bodies recovered till evening included five women and two children. Four of the 12 rescued suffered serious injuries. Search operation for the remaining were continuing. A FRS personnel involved in the rescue operation said that the chances of persons washed away in the nearby river could not be ruled out and hence search was being carried out in the river also.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the rescue operations would continue in the night also as arrangements were made for lighting.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 each to the injured, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced relief of Rs. 5 lakh to the families of the deceased and entire medical expenses of the injured.
Meanwhile, many part of Kerala, including Wayanad, Ernakulam, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta were under the grip of a flood and landslides owing to continuous rains and rise in water-levels of rivers. Coastal areas across the state was also witnessing high tides and sea erosion.
Around 20 families were rescued from a landslide hit spot at Mundakai near Kalpetta in Wayanad. Since many families were shifted to safe locations in advance, major casualty could be averted. Minor landslides were also reported at some other parts of Idukki, Wayanad and Malappuram districts.
The chief minister said that shutters of 17 dams in the state were already opened. Hundreds of families were shifted to relief camps across the state.
The India Meteorological Department had issued a red alert for Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad and Wayanad and orange alert in eight other districts for Saturday also.