Officials during a search and rescue operation at a landslide-hit area, in Wayanad district.
Credit: PTI Photo
Wayanad: The mass burial of 31 unclaimed dead bodies and 158 body parts recovered after the July 30 landslide at Kerala's Wayanad will be held on Monday at the graves prepared inside a nearby tea estate, state Revenue Minister K Rajan said on Monday.
Rajan said the graves have will be marked based on the identification number allotted to each body and the parts according to the DNA samples recovered from the body parts.
The minister, who met the media here, also said that the search operations to find the missing persons will continue.
"The 31 unclaimed bodies will be buried first. then each body part, from which DNA samples have been collected, will be buried in separate graves. The process will begin after the cabinet sub-committee meeting," Rajan said.
He said the search operations concentrating around the Chaliyar River and the nearby areas will be enhanced.
The mass burial will take place in graves prepared on a 64-cent piece of land owned by Harrisons Malayalam Ltd here that has been acquired for this purpose.
The service of more cadaver dogs from various parts of the country has been requested, and 15 more dogs are expected to join the search operations today," Rajan said.
He said the number of missing persons came down on Sunday as more bodies were identified.
On Saturday, five bodies were buried, and on Sunday eight more were laid to rest in graves prepared on land that had been acquired for the purpose.
The burials were carried out amidst prayers and the last rites of all religions.