Two locations finalised to construct township for Wayanad landslides survivors: Kerala Housing Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has finalised two locations to construct a 'community living' style township for the victims of the Wayanad landslides disaster, Minister for Revenue and Housing K Rajan said on Friday.

Three villages -- Punchirimattam, Chooralmala and Mundakkai -- of the scenic tourist destination district were completely wiped out in the massive disaster that took place on July 30, claiming more than 200 lives.

"We have identified Kottappadi and Kalpetta as the two sites where those affected by the landslides will be completely rehabilitated in a community living-style township," Rajan told PTI during an interview here.

We are not just looking at rehabilitating the survivors by providing them homes but also aim to ensure a "holistic" life for them with jobs and education, he said at his office in the Kerala Secretariat.

Kottappadi is about 11 kilometres from the disaster site, while Kalpetta -- the district headquarters of Wayanad -- is about 35 kilometres away.

The minister said the townships will be developed with the idea that these will not just be houses but complete amenity areas, including a hospital, public facilities, community centre, primary schools, etc.

According to official data, a total of 448 bodies and body parts have been recovered so far, of which 178 have been identified. No one has survived in 17 families comprising 58 persons in total.

The Kerala government has housed all the survivors in state-run hostels and buildings and for those living in alternate private accommodations, it is paying the rent. Some people are staying with their kin, officials said.

"I have never seen such a tragedy in my 50 years of life. I cannot fathom the pain that the people of Wayanad have gone through," the minister said.

He added that experts have informed him that the two deadly landslides were triggered at a height of 1,782 feet on the fateful day, leading to a heavy flow of water gushing down the Gayathri river, carrying large stones, tree trunks and gravel downstream into the affected villages.

Rajan was among the four cabinet ministers' sub-committee that mobilised as soon as the tragedy struck, initiating relief and rescue operations. The minister camped at the incident area for 24 days beginning July 30.

The minister said that the government has also "decided" to continue paying the rent for those living in private accommodations, while jobs will be ensured for the affected locals of these three villages and adjoining areas who have been displaced from their homes and livelihoods due to the landslides.

"This support will continue for a long time and we are determined to do that," he said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has told an all-party meeting on Thursday about his government's plan to construct 1,000 square feet single-storey houses, with the option to expand to two storeys, for the affected families.

Asked about the rescue operations, Rajan said the teams were operating in a three-stage structured format where the "first priority" of the rescuers was to evacuate the people who were alive at the landslides-hit site, followed by rushing them to the hospitals and after all this they were directed to look for the dead.

"Necessity is the mother of invention. The Army had erected the Bailey bridge over the Gayathri river and that gave great speed to rescue operations. Till that time, a temporary bridge of wood tied with coir ropes was installed by us leading to the rescue of 500 persons," he said.

Referring to the notings he made during the ground operations, the minister said 500 ambulances were lined up at Wayanad, with 200 in active duty to rush the injured, while 300 were kept on standby.

The ambulances were pooled in from neighbouring districts of Kozhikode and Malappuram and even from Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad apart from those sent in by voluntary organisations, Rajan said.

"We rescued all the survivors within 24 hours of the tragedy. The operations to find the mortal remains never stopped, even in the night, as we brought in 30 floodlights and restored electricity in the area within 20 hours," he said.

A total of 1,472 rescuers from the Army, NDRF, SOG of Kerala, local police, fire and rescue and civil defence were divided into 18 teams that scoured a radius of 50-60 kilometres region apart from eight other teams that scanned the Chaliyar river bank for 45 kilometres under eight police station areas, he said.

The river search teams comprised rescuers from the Navy, Coast Guard, state forest department, local police and volunteers, the minister added.

Each of the 40 teams, the minister said, was led by a group leader, armed with a common group calling mobile phone, three earth movers, a set of heavy metal cutting machines, three stretchers and 20 volunteers.

About 5,000 meal packets were prepared thrice each day for the rescuers, survivors and other administrative staff engaged in the rescue works, Rajan said.