Kalpetta: Vanished villages, washed out roads and bridges, bodies flowing through the rivers... as Wayanad woke up to torrential downpour, a large part of Chooralmala village was washed away in one of the harshest landslides in the town.
Rescue workers, who were pressed into service to help the survivors, say they are clueless about the exact impact of the calamity.
Three back-to-back landslides rocked the area between 2 am and 6 am. A part of Chooralmala town including shops and vehicles was wiped off in the aftermath of the massive landslips.
The district administration has confirmed the death of eight people, but officials fear the number could be high as a large part of the region is still inaccessible due to the destruction. At Attamala, villagers found six bodies in the river which they say might have flowed down from the Mundakkai. The eight-metre river is now flowing like a raging river, people said.
Local people said that more than 200 houses at Chooralmala village have been washed off in the landslides. The rescue mission is yet to reach Mundakkai as the bridge connecting the two villages has been destroyed completely.
Minor landslides are still happening in the hills in the upper regions of the districts, officials confirmed. With areas becoming inaccessible, it is not yet known whether people are still trapped in their houses.
The magnitude of the calamity at Mundakkai village, a few kilometres away from Chooralmala on the same road, is yet to be assessed as the entire region has been isolated.
Reports say that more than three dead bodies were found in the River Chaliyar at the Pothukallu panchayath. The rivers that originate from the slopes of Meppadi are the tributaries of Chaliyar. The water level of Chaliyar is alarmingly high as the water and slush from the landslides of Meppadi gush down to the river.
The Army team from Wellington, Coonoor would land in Wayanad soon to coordinate the rescue operations and construct a bridge to reach Mundakkai. The local people are coordinating the rescue operations at various remote hamlets. Six dead bodies were retrieved at Attamala few kilometres away from Chooralmala.
Yunus, who lives near Treevalley Resort, said that hundreds of people are missing from Punichirimattam in the repeated landslides that struck Mundakkai towards 3.15 am. Heavy rain is still lashing the region making the rescue operations harder, district officials said.
The ecologically sensitive regions including Meppadi, Vythiri and Vaduvanchal received torrential rain in the past 24 hours. Going by the data of the weather stations of Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology, which monitors the weather patterns in the region, more than 300 mm of rain was received at many places along the western Ghat region in the last 24 hours.
The river at Chooralmala, which was just 8 meters wide now is in spate.
The District Collector, who is also the chairperson of the District Disaster Management Authority, ordered all government staff including teachers to be part of the rescue mission and also to be available at any time in the district.
