Puthumala in Wayanad witnessed heart-rending scenes Monday evening as hearses kept arriving one after another bearing the unidentified victims of the July 30 landslides that devastated Mundakkai and Chooralmala.
The mass burial, of unidentified victims, which began at 4.30 pm on a 64-cent land, had not been completed even after 6 hours. Revenue Minister K Rajan said, "29 bodies and 154 body parts are being buried here".
Eight unidentified bodies were buried on the same ground on Sunday and five were buried the other day at Kalpetta.
Prayers led by members of every faith were held on the burial ground. Each body and body parts were wrapped in a white cloth and placed in individual burial pits. "What we are witnessing here is hard to put into words. We saw a body part as small as a hand. Strict instructions were given that no matter how small the body part, it must be shown utmost respect and carried with both hands. Each volunteer was extremely respectful," Minister Rajan said.
In 2019, Puthumala was hit by a landslide that claimed 12 lives. Five people, who went missing on the 8th of August that year, are understood to be buried under the debris to this day.
Today, a DNA number enclosed in a plastic bag was buried along with each body and body part. The same number was inscribed on the individual tombstones. The most common inscription began with a serial 'NL' referring to Nilambur in the Malappuram district from where most of the unidentified bodies were recovered. The bodies had been swept away in the Chaliyar River.
"More bodies were recovered today from downstream. So we have decided to spread the search to an isolated area beyond the Sunrise Valley that has not been searched yet," Minister Rajan said.
The 12-member special search team will comprise two from the Forest Department, four from a specially trained unit of the state police and six from the Indian Army. They will be airlifted to the area from the SKMJ Ground Tuesday morning.
