Wayanad landslide: Kerala government decides to declare missing as dead

The decision came as a big relief for families of 35 people, who went missing in the disaster that struck havoc in the hilly terrain on 30 July, 2024.
Massive landslide effected area at Chooralmala in Wayanad
Massive landslide effected area at Chooralmala in Wayanad(File Photo)
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has decided to declare those who went missing in Mundakkai-Chooralmala landslides as dead, which will help their immediate relatives get ex-gratia. The government on Tuesday issued a directive to form committees, which will carry out the procedures required to declare the missing people as dead.

The decision came as a big relief for families of 35 people, who went missing in the disaster that struck havoc in the hilly terrain on 30 July, 2024. The government had earlier announced guidelines to provide financial aid,
including ex-gratia, for the relatives of those who died in the
mishap.

The committees will provide recommendations to provide ex-gratia to
the kin of those who went missing by counting them as dead. The
committees will be formed in the local as well as state-levels.

As per the government order, the revenue department officials will collect
FIRs registered in connection with missing people.  The officials will
prepare special inquiry reports marking that the missing persons could
not be located.

The local-level committee will the panchayat secretary, village
officer and police station house officer as members. The committee
will prepare a list of the missing people and file it before the
District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA). The DDMA will examine
the list and forward it to the state-level committee with proper
suggestions.

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The state-level committee will have additional chief secretary
(home), principal secretary (revenue and disaster management) and
principal secretary (local self government) as members.

The state-level committee will submit the list provided by the local-level
committee to the state government after proper scrutiny. The government will issue an order providing ex-gratia to the relatives of
the deceased by considering them as dead.

The government has also notified a slew of steps that should be taken
by the officials in order to consider those missing in the landslide
as dead. An FIR should be filed by the closest relative of the missing
person in the police station where he resided. If the missing happened
in another police station limit, the FIR should be referred to that
station as well.

The statement given by the closest relative of the missing person,
which was attested by a notary public, should be kept as a permanent
document. The FIR should be forwarded to the tahasildar/ sub-divisional
magistrate along with police repor, ration card, bank passbook and
other documents required for identification.

The tahasildar/ sub-divisional magistrate should conduct a detailed
inquiry about the missing person. The tahasildar/ sub-divisional
magistrate should issue an order by reaching a temporary conclusion
that the missing person is no more.

Massive landslide effected area at Chooralmala in Wayanad
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A list of persons who were temporarily deemed as dead should be published in newspapers, official gazette and government website with a scope for those having any objections to raise it. 30 days should be given for filing objections.

If there are no objections, the tahasildar/ sub-divisional magistrate
should provide the details to the registrar of birth and death, who in
turn should issue death certificates against the names of the missing
persons. The death certificates should be provided free of cost to the
immediate relative of the missing person and it should also be
forwarded to the police station where the FIR for man-missing was
registered.

In case of objections being raised, officers above the
rank of tahasildar/ sub-divisional magistrate should conduct an
inquiry and give a detailed report to the tahasildar/sub-divisional
magistrate. Based on the report, the officer can make a decision
whether to grant the death certficiate or not.

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