CHOORALMALA: Flattened houses, mangled vehicles, boulders, huge uprooted trees and mud. The twin Wayanad villages of Chooralmala and Mundakkai resembled graveyards on Wednesday.
Unconfirmed reports put the death toll of the landslide that ripped through the villages in the early hours of Tuesday at 275 (official tally 173), while 240 were feared missing (official tally 191). In Mundakkai, around 90% of the houses were destroyed, filled with mud upto 10ft high.
Relatives of the missing persons waited in anguish as rescue workers from the Army, Navy, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Coast Guard, Fire and Rescue Services, Police, Civil Defence Force and volunteers of various NGOs waded through knee-deep slush searching for life under mounds of debris.
Meanwhile, 19 people who were stranded at a resort in Mundakkai were rescued and brought to a relief centre. Five bodies were recovered from Mundakkai. The rescue workers had to brave inclement weather and hostile terrain to search for survivors. “My wife Sheeja and eight members of the family are missing. There is no information about them,” said Soman of Mandapathil house in Mundakkai. “The house is buried under the debris,” he said.
ADGP M R Ajithkumar said rescue workers had reached every remote area of Mundakkai and rescued all stranded residents. “Since the bridge has been washed away, we couldn’t take heavy machinery to the area. We are using cutters, ropes and small equipment to cut concrete slabs. Dogs from the K9 squad helped identify four spots and we are removing the debris to find the missing people,” he said.
Fire and Rescue Services personnel managed to take an earthmover to Mundakkai after crossing the river on Wednesday morning. “There are chances of people being stuck under the debris in various houses. We have rescued all survivors but cannot rule out the possibility of there being more,” said Ajithkumar.
The Army has said it will build the 190-m-long Bailey bridge by Thursday evening.
Major General V T Mathew of Indian Army, who is leading the rescue team, said the bridge will be able to bear 24 tonnes of weight allowing them to take excavators to Mundakkai through it. “We have deployed around 350 armymen for rescue operations. A team of 160 army engineers will join us on Thursday. We have brought three canines from Meerut to help with the search,” he said.
The arrival of thousands of rescue workers is also posing difficulty for the Army in moving the equipment for the bridge. “We have requested the district administration to move all vehicles parked by the roadside. Once the area is cleared, we will be able to expedite the operations,” said Mathew.