Rescue operations continue to take place in landslides-hit Wayanad in Kerala, with the death toll now standing at 210, as per official data. Meanwhile, State Minister Mohamed Riyas said that 218 persons were still missing.
Around 1,374 rescue personnel are at work in the once picturesque hilly district, known to be a major tourist attraction of the southern state, the 'God's own country'.
WAYANAD LANDSLIDES | WHERE DOES IT ALL STAND?
DEATH TOLL
As per official data from the Kerala government, the death toll in the devastating Wayanad landslides rose to 210. State Tourism Minister PA Mohamed Riyas said that 210 bodies, including 83 women and 29 children, have been recovered.
As many as 273 persons have been injured in the natural calamity that struck the hilly district of Kerala, with 177 of them having been discharged from hospitals and remaining 85 still undergoing treatment.
49 CHILDREN MISSING OR DEAD
Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty said that at least 49 children have been missing or dead in the deadly landslides that struck Wayanad on Tuesday, July 30.
He said that the Government Higher Secondary School at Vellarimala had been completely destroyed by the calamity, while four other schools in the region also suffered severe damage.
"As per the reports, 49 children are either dead or missing. The Vellarimala GHSS has been completely destroyed. The GLPS Mundakkai has been partially damaged. Three other schools have also suffered minor damage," Sivankutty told reporters on Friday.
Notably, rescuers are racing against time, battling the inclement weather conditions, to search through the muddied soil to look for survivors and bodies.
GPS COORDINATES, AERIAL DRONE & RADAR SYSTEMS
Rescuers are using GPS coordinates from aerial drone pictures and cell phones to locate survivors in the landslide-struck regions of Wayanad.
Search operations have also been accelerated in the region, given the completion of the 190-foot-long Bailey bridge by the Indian Army. The bridge helped rescue personnel in moving heavy machinery, including excavators and ambulances to worst-hit hamlets of Mundakkai and Chooralmala.
Meanwhile, officials said that around 40 rescue teams with cadaver dogs are searching six zones of the affected regions -- Attamala and Aaranmala, Mundakkai, Punchirimattam, Vellarimala village, GVHSS Vellarimala and riverbank.
The rescue personnel include teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Army, DSG, Coast Guard, Navy and the Forest Department.
District Collector Meghashree DR said GPS coordinates from aerial drone pictures and cell phones, including the last location of people who lived in the affected areas, have been used to identify spots where search and rescue operations can be focused.
Aerial photographs taken by drones have helped identify GPS coordinates of specific search locations, she said, adding that, "We mapped this data and gave it to all the teams so that the search and rescue operations can proceed efficiently and speedily."
Meanwhile, rescuers said that the advanced radar system -- they have been using in the rescue ops -- have detected a signal indicating breathing, possibly by a human or animal.
A "blue signal" was received on the radar while searching an area where previously a house as located in the Mundakkai village, an official said. "There is a consistent signal of breathing," the official added.
The signal was reportedly from where the house' kitchen and store room were located, so rescuers started digging into the spot.
However, the brief hope didn't deliver any concrete results on the spot and the search operation was called off at 9:15 pm.
"Today's operation is over. The signal could have been of a snake, rat or cat. There is no human life beneath that particular basement. That is confirmed," the official said.
'TERRIBLE TRAGEDY': RAHUL GANDHI
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who visited the landslide-hit district with his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra -- termed the Wayanad landslides as a "terrible tragedy".
Rahul said that such an incident "demands a unique and urgent response". He said that he would raise the matter in Delhi and also with state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as "this is a different level of tragedy and should be treated differently".
The Congress MP said that rehabilitation of those displaced is going to be very important, as a lot of survivors told him that they did not want to go back to the landslide-hit areas.
"So, I think it is important that they are rehabilitated in a safe area and are not forced to go back. These are the things that we have already raised with the Government of Kerala," he said.
Rahul Gandhi also promised that the Congress party would build more than 100 houses in Wayanad.
Notably, Rahul represented the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency after winning the seat in the 2019 general elections. He won the seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as well, however, he gave it up to represent the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh.
PRIVILEGE NOTICE AGAINST SHAH IN RAJYA SABHA
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh moved a Privilege Motion notice in Rajya Sabha against Home Minister Amit Shah for his "early warning" claims regarding the landslides in Wayanad.
"In his response to a calling attention on the Wayanad landslides in the Rajya Sabha on July 31, the Union Home Minister made several claims on early warning systems and how they were not utilised by the Kerala government despite alerts issued by the Union Government well ahead of the tragedy. These claims have been extensively fact-checked in the media," Ramesh said in his letter.
He said that it is clear that Shah "misled the Rajya Sabha with his emphatic statements on early warnings issued by the" Centre which have been proven to be "false".
"It is well establihsed that misleading the house by a minister or a member constitutes a breach of privilege and contempt of the house," Ramesh added.
