BHUBANESWAR/BERHAMPUR: At least 12 people have gone missing after a landslide swept away a hamlet on the Ganjam-Kandhamal border following heavy rainfall triggered by Cyclone Arnab on the night of October 28.
The Odisha government launched a massive search operation, but no missing person has been traced so far. Persistent rainfall and poor access to the site have posed major challenges to rescue efforts.
The incident occurred at Gidipabali hamlet, a remote hilltop settlement under Baipali gram panchayat in Ganjam district’s Bhanjanagar block. The hamlet is home to around 25 people.
The landslide reportedly swept across the hilly terrain, carrying away villagers and causing widespread destruction. With boulders strewn across the area, rescuers have found it difficult to locate any signs of life.
Special relief commissioner (SRC) Rajesh Prabhakar Patil told mediapersons on Saturday that 12 residents had managed to move to safety as rainfall intensified on Wednesday night, triggering the landslide. However, 13 others were initially untraceable. An elderly woman, Tarabati Pradhan, was subsequently located.
The incident came to light only after 10 survivors managed to reach officials in neighbouring Kandhamal district on Friday evening and report the landslide.
Ganjam district authorities could not access the area due to flooding and damaged roads, although a rescue operation was launched.
Patil said around 160-170 personnel from the Fire Services, ODRAF, NDRF and Special Operations Group had been deployed from Kandhamal.
Kandhamal SP Ramendra Prasad said rescue teams had to trek more than 7 km across muddy stretches to reach the landslide site.
On Saturday, the state government deployed an Indian Navy helicopter from G Udayagiri carrying advanced equipment, including a life detection (seismic) unit, a vibration detection unit and victim location cameras.
However, adverse weather conditions prevented the helicopter from landing at the designated spot. The equipment is now being transported by road and is expected to be put to use from Sunday morning.
Continuous heavy rainfall in the landslide-hit area continues to pose serious challenges to rescue teams. Despite these obstacles, officials said all possible efforts were being made, in consultation with experts and through close coordination among multiple agencies, to locate the missing persons at the earliest.
Amid the ongoing rescue operation, 10 survivors are taking shelter at Kilapanga Primary School in Kandhamal district. Among them is 26-year-old Rinima Malik, who is desperately awaiting news of her husband, Sanman Pradhan, and father-in-law, Debraj Pradhan.
“Our family, including my husband, our two children and my father-in-law, had gone to my parental home to meet my mother. When the rain started pouring, my mother, my twin children and I managed to move to safety, but my husband and father-in-law were swept away,” she said.
The Gidipabali incident comes close on the heels of another tragedy in neighbouring Kandhamal district, where three members of a family, including a seven-month-old infant, were killed after a massive landslide destroyed their house in Raikia block in the early hours of Thursday.