Six more bodies have been recovered from the Pettimudi river on Monday. With this, the death toll of Rajamala-Pettimudi landslide rises to 49.

According to Kannan Devan comapny, which owns the estate, 22 more people are yet to be found. Only 12 people survived the landslipe on August 6 that flattenned a line of dwellings. Rescue efforts are still on, but they've been made difficult due to heavy rain and fog.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to ascertain the number of people caught under the debris in the Rajamala-Pettimudi landslip of August 6.

The ‘line houses,’ as the shanties of the tea estate workers are known, were the most affected.

The Kannan Devan company said 83 people lived in the affected ‘line houses.’ The Revenue Department count indicated 78 people.

The names of some of the people killed are not on company records as they would be visiting relatives or friends who come for a short stay. Recently, a child’s birthday function was organized in one of the houses and sources said a couple of people had come visiting. The company believes that they could also have been trapped under the debris.

Sources said many people living in the houses were from Tamil Nadu too. The houses were unusually full students in towns had come home due to the pandemic.

Pettimadai is 21 km from Munnar and is linked to Tamil Nadu through Marayur and Udumalpet.

Reports said the secluded geography of the place made rescue even more difficult. The power and telephone lines had gotten cut many days before the landslip in strong rain and winds. The Periyavare bridge too had collapsed and this made rescue efforts even more difficult.

Prone to disaster

The Forest Department has said that a place called Gravel Banks near Pettimudi witnessed a similar landslip 20 years ago.

Pettimudi is considered largely safe as the upper reaches and the elevated places, way up Pettimudi, have never reported any landslip or land implosion, says Iravikulam National Part Assistant Wildlife Warden Job J. Neryamparambil.

The Forest Department estimates that the source could be somewhere in the Shola forests but the actual spot can only be ascertained after the weather clears up. Heavy mist and rain now prevent forest personnel from venturing deep inside the forest.

Forest workers dead

Forest sources said at least six temporary workers engaged by the national park were among those killed by the natural disaster. All of them are residents of Pettimudi. Watchers Manikantan, Achuthan, Raja, and Rekha; and drivers Ganeshan, and Mayilswami had gone missing. Of this, the bodies of Rekha and Raja were recovered. The Forest Department depended on these local inhabitants to find new trails as they are familiar with the region.

Forest Minister K. Raju said an ex-gratia of Rs.50,000 each would be given to the next of kin of those affected. In Edamalkudy, two jeeps of the Panchayat Department wee damaged in the landslip.

Nilgiri thars safe

The Nilgiri thars of the national park are safe, the Forest Department said. The carcass of an animal found a day ago was that of a deer (ibex), the department said.

In the last count, there were 723 Nilgiri thars in the park, the main habitat of the animals in the country.