Heavy rains continued to lash many parts of Kerala on Sunday, creating panic among the localites.
The death count in the massive landslide in Kerala’s Idukki which occurred on Friday(August 7,2020) has reached to 43 after 17 bodies were recovered on Sunday, including that of a six-month-old baby. Three days after a row of quarters was buried in a landslide in the state, 20 people are still missing while rescue workers on Sunday managed to recover 17 more bodies from the rubble and sludge.
“17 dead bodies were recovered on Sunday. This included a six-month-old baby,” said Idukki District Information Office (DIO).
Two National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, a full unit of Idukki Fire and Rescue team, a team each from Kottayam, Thiruvananthapuram, and a team which received special training in disaster management are leading the rescue operations in Idukki’s Rajamala, informed the DIO on Sunday.
The rescue team used sniffer dogs to many of the bodies from the site where the colony was buried.
As per the Idukki district administration, the number of missing people is likely to go up as many students who lives in hostels had returned homes amid the coronavirus pandemic. The estimated number of the missing people is based on the emloyement registry of the wprkers which does not include students and guests.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted extremely heavy rainfall in Kasargod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, and Alappizha districts.
In low-lying areas of Kuttanad Taluk in Alappuzha district, heavy rains forced the administration to evacuate people to temporary relief camps. More than 30 relief camps have been set up by the district administration and people were being carried in lorries and tractors from the accident site, an official told news agency ANI on Sunday.
“We are ready to face any issue, should they arise. The low lying areas were flooded on Saturday but the police, the fire department, revenue department, the municipality and local people intervened and shifted the affected people,” D Sajith Babu, the district collector said.
“Heavy rain alert has been issued for the next three days. We request all departments to engage in relief work. People are requested to avoid unnecessary travel by road as trees are being uprooted. A new control room has opened in Kanjangad to coordinate actions,” he added.
