Get ready for a Night of Horror in Wayanad.
Wayanad landslides Update:The southern Indian state of Kerala was wakened by catastrophic landslides on Tuesday while at least 93 people were killed. These large scale landslides occurred at the hilly areas of Wayanad district; people said good bye to their houses as they disappeared beneath the earth due to heavy torrents of rains. Some persons have been rescued but the search and rescue process is still ongoing although it is being greatly compounded by; incessant rains and the folding of an important bridge.
The Severity of Disaster
Immediate Impact:
- The first and the worst form of landslide occurred a Chooralmala village in which houses and a major part of the village were buried and all the roads and bridges therein collapsed.
- In the next four hours three disastrous calamities of landslides struck the district and added on to the loss.
- People, corpses in fact, were observed drifting in streams which were now streams of blood rushing in torrents.
Rescue Efforts:
- It is regrettable to note that there have been over 200 army personals assigned for search and rescue mission.
- Around 250 people have been evacuated and shifted to the relief camps and local hospitals are attending the least 129 wounded citizens.
- However, tens of people are still missing and feared buried alive and the rescue teams are physically blocked from accessing some of the affected regions due to the collapsed buildings.
Geographical Challenges:
- Sitting in the Western Ghats mountain range, Wayanad is especially vulnerable to frequent landslides specifically during the monsoon.
- There are several areas that have been hit by the landslides namely; Mundakkai, Attamala, Chooralmala and Kunhome.
- A bridge has been washed away connecting Chooralmala to Mundakkai and Attamala resulting to aches the rescue operation in attempting to reach some families stuck at the one and two storey buildings.
Testimonies and reactions of local people
Survivors’ Stories:
- Rashid Padikkalparamban, a resident, said at least three landslides happened around midnight and erased the bridge that connected some areas.
- Raghavan C Arunamala narrated a very graphic account of a man caught in the rubbles of a collapsed building with fire fighters and rescue teams trying to get to the man.
Community Efforts:
- People use their bicycles and accompany state and national rescue teams in this area.
- Mr. Venu, the state’s chief secretary pointed out that a small group was able to wade through the water and ferry relief items to the cut-off zones, although more is required to effectively respond to the calamity.
Historical nature of the issue and continued vulnerabilities
Past Tragedies:
- Kerala has seen some of the worst monsoon related disaster in the recent past. Floods in India are a major disaster that affected FY 2018, claiming over 400 lives thus becoming the worst to occur in the state.
- In early 2019 also there was a landslide in Puthumala, in the district of Wayanad just 10 kilometer from where today’s tragedy occurred, claiming 17 lives.
Risk Factors:
- Another map from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi few months prior highlighted that 58. A significantly high proportion of the Wayanad district was found to lie at high to very high risk of landslides with the percentage touching 52%.
- Hence the group selected Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha villages were are said to be most sensitive to natural disasters.
Contributing Factors:
- Global warming, cutting down trees and uncontrolled construction have added to the natural calamity of landslides in Kerala.
- Due to global warming, intense rainfall has been realised whereby there are heavily flooded areas and others facing landslides.
Government and International Response
Government Actions:
Indian Vice President Jagdeep Singh Dhankhar spoke about the human tragedy in India’s parliament stating that it is “sorely bitter incident.”
Pinarayi Vijayan meet with PM Narendra Modi, the federal governments said it would stand by the side of the state in the hour of need and announced a compensation package for those who lost their loved ones in the mishap and for the injured.
International Awareness:
This calamity has set its focus globally, which in turn has emphasized the necessity for improvement in disaster prevention and mitigation processes in areas such as Kerala.
Conclusion
Kerala has recently witnessed an exposure to the landslides that reiterated the extent of havoc that natural disasters cause to the populations. In this case, as the efforts to save the survivors and the identification of more victims go on, the necessity of preventing such threats becomes evident. The assessment of the impact of the disaster is a call for surviving communities to stand tall and uphold hope; here in Wayanad the fight and unity of the affected persons and the quick response of the rescue team offers a silver lining to the dark occurrence. However, the prevention of such disasters – climate change, deforestation, and unplanned development, remain a major task for the future.