Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said that rescue operations in Wayanad were underway at full scale in landslides-affected areas. He said that 191 people were still missing and rescue workers were making efforts to find them. Wayand district administration confirmed that rescue workers have recovered 158 bodies so far.
The Indian Army’s six columns, along with NDRF SDRF and district civil administration, are conducting rescue operations in the area and a temporary bridge on the Meppadi-Chooralmala Road will be built after deploying certain earth-moving equipment.
Home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that the Centre had given an early warning to the Kerala government about heavy rainfall and landslides on July 23. He said that the warnings continued for another three days and on July 26, it was told that there would be a heavy downpour of more than 20 centimetres which can trigger landslides and slush, risking people’s safety.
In response to home minister Amit Shah’s statement, the Kerala chief minister said it’s not the time for blame. He said that no red alerts were issued for Wayanad before the landslides. Indian Army has successfully evacuated over 55,00 people from the affected areas. Approximately 600 personnel from the NDRF, Army, state police, forest officials and volunteers have been involved in the rescue operations.