MADIKERI : The death toll in the natural calamity that shook Kodagu district since August 15 has touched 15 as team of NDRF and Indian Army retrieved more dead bodies on different landslide areas. The death toll has increased to 15 according to the reports released by district administration. From 8th August, one person has died due to drowning, two people came under uprooted trees and 12 others died in landslides.A team of 30 members from 10th Battalion NDRF from Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday retrieved the dead body of a daily-wager Pavan from under the debris of landslide at Katakeri.
Buried under over 500 metre layer of muck, Pavan’s body was retrieved after a two-hour search operation. “We were guided by the locals on the likely spot where the dead body might have been buried. We dug around this area and there emitted a foul smell. We were under the knee-deep muck and using ropes and other equipments we retrieved the body,” explained Inspector R P Chaudri, the team commander of NDRF.
Simultaneously, another search operation was carried by 15th Dogra Regiment of the Indian Army at Megathalu in Makkanduru village. The team, with guidance from residents of Makkanduru and Major Biddappa (Artillery Regiment), retrieved two dead bodies from under the debris of landslide. Dead bodies of a mother and a son - Chandravathi and Umesh Rai, who were washed away in the landslide around 3 am on August 16th, were retrieved from under 700 metres of muck. The District Minister Sa Ra Mahesh conducted an aerial survey of the search operation on Wednesday.