Ground Report: 4 Rescue Zones And Race Against Time In Landslide-Hit Wayanad

Five people died and a dozen remain hospitalised, while five more are feared to be trapped under the mud after heavy rainfall led to a landslide in Kerala's Wayanad yesterday. To save them, the rescue teams have now tweaked the strategy, NDTV has learnt as it remains on the ground despite the weather challenges to bring this exclusive report.

Rescues are racing against time in the Maypadi region, which has now been divided into four zones. Rescue operation is underway in all four areas to fast-track the efforts.

"Today, our focus will be to find these five missing persons. We have divided into four zones. We have the equipment and cadaver dogs (trained to locate body parts). We have mobilised everything. We are trying to reinstate the transportation also, so once that is done, we'll see further what actions have to be," said Wayanad police chief S Deva Manohar.

The rescue operation went on through the night, it was learnt. But there was no success. Not a single body could be located. Now that the clock keeps ticking, here comes the need for speeding up the efforts to find those believed to be trapped.

At a distance, a twin-tunnel road construction point can be seen at an entry point. This is where the excavated soil was mounted for almost three to four metres.

The heavy and continuous rainfall remains the biggest challenge for the rescuers as Wayanad continues to record over 200 mm of rain for over two days.

The landslide had occurred close to the site of the ongoing Anakkompoyil-Meppadi tunnel road project that would connect Malappuram and Wayanad districts. Construction workers were present in the area at that time.

Kerala Minister T Siddique has called it a "man-made" landslide that was the result of negligence, claiming that authorities had previously warned Konkan Railways about the risk of a landslide.

Doubling down, Chief Minister VD Satheesan has alleged that the contractors didn't abide by orders to stop work in the area.

Reports suggest that Wayanad's Collector had on June 20 asked for the work to be temporarily stopped at the tunnel project site until the soil accumulated post-tunnelling is removed from the area.

Describing the incident as "very unfortunate", Satheesan said that his government will conduct a detailed techno-legal study and also check if the construction company had violated any rules.