A massive search operation using man and machine, is underway on Saturday to find 50 odd people reported missing after a landslide in Kerala’s Idukki district.
Since the Thursday midnight tragedy struck Rajamalai, 18 people have lost their lives while more than a dozen have been rescued and are under treatment in various hospitals in Idukki, Kottayam and Ernakulam districts.
The tragedy took place about 30km from the popular tourist destination of Munnar when big boulders came down on four lines of estate houses.
State Minister for Electricity, M.M.Mani, who hails from the district said the state government will do everything possible to help the victims, so would the Tea company, that owns the estate.
“The exact number of missing will have to be ascertained by the tea company, as it’s their residential lines and the local village council will also have to work with them. The chances of getting a survivor from the debris is slim now,” said Mani.
A huge number of rescue personnel drawn from the NDRF, Kerala Police, Fire Force, locals and volunteers are carrying out the massive search exercise.
While the Kerala government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to each of the deceased’s families, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced Rs 2 lakh each.
The women residents of the locality work in tea estates in the area, while most men work as jeep drivers. The authorities got to know of the tragedy after two residents reached a nearby forest station and informed officials late in the night on Thursday.
Deepan, one of the four survivors admitted at a hospital in Munnar, was teary-eyed. He said he had no clue about his father and his wife who were with him in their house when the landslide occurred. His mother has, however, been moved to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital in a serious condition.
“For the past 10 days, it has been pouring. The landslide occurred around 10.30 pm on Thursday. I do not know about my father, wife, and my brother’s family. There are three rows of houses in the cluster where around 80 people live. Do not know what has happened to them. Around 30 jeeps too were buried under the landslide,” Deepan said.
The Kerala government’s efforts to get an air rescue team to the spot failed due to inclement weather. However, two teams of National Disaster Response Force are on way to the spot.
The biggest problem is that all communication lines to the area have been snapped and roads to the hilly area blocked due to uprooting of trees, officials said.
