Editor's Pick | More than 100 dead as landslides flatten Wayanad villages

At least 122 persons were killed and 197 injured after multiple landslides flattened some three villages in Vythiri taluk of the hilly Wayanad district of Kerala early on Tuesday. The death toll is expected to climb as more persons are feared trapped. As many as 25 mangled body parts were recovered from the Chaliyar river near Pothukallu area in Malappuram district and four from Chooralmala in Wayanad. The Kerala government has declared a state of mourning for two days. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said an intense rescue effort involving State and Central forces was under way in the Mundakkai, Chooralmala and Attamala localities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex gratia payment of ₹2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured. The government has identified a waterlogged hillock 6 km from the villages, which abutted the Iruvanipuzha river, as the origin of the landslides. The first landslide occurred at 2 a.m. when residents were asleep. The cascading wave of sodden mud, boulders, and uprooted trees measured at least two floors in height if the waterline visible on a multi-storey school building was anything to go by. Images showed a wide, muddy slash on the verdant, uninhabited hillside, where the mud had slid down to bury the villages thousands of metres below. The second landslide occurred at 4.10 a.m. The moving landmass roared over the devastated locality and plunged into the swollen river, changing its course and flooding neighbouring localities. “In the place of one river, there are two now,” Mr. Vijayan told mediapersons in Thiruvananthapuram. The second landslide wiped out the Chooralmala bridge across the Iruvanipuzha, cutting off the disaster site from search and rescue teams. Hundreds of landslide survivors hunkered down in nearby hill resorts and schools, waiting for rescue workers to evacuate them to safer ground. The Chief Minister said the rugged locality, a switchback of hills and forests favoured by tourists, received more rainfall than anticipated. He said according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast on Monday, the area was supposed to receive rainfall in the range of 64 mm to 204 mm (orange alert) in the 24 hours. However, the area where the disaster struck recorded 200 mm in the first 24 hours and 372 mm of rain in the next, a total of 572 mm of rain in just 48 hours. He said revenue officials had reduced the scale of the disaster by evacuating several settlements around the hill, including the lone tribal settlement at Chembra. However, the landslide took an unexpected path. The erased villages did not fall under the government’s disaster-prone zone. Officials told The Hindu in Wayanad that several of the dead were plantation workers from West Bengal and northeastern States, making the identifying process difficult. One of those killed is a native of Tamil Nadu. He was identified as K. Kalidoss of the Nilgiris district. The native of Marappalam in Gudalur taluk went to Mundakkai Chooralmalai for construction work. The incessant rain triggered more landslides at Puncharimattam, Munutti, Irupanthoppu and Vellarimala. The government has put the State’s official machinery on an active footing as it braces for heavy rain in eight districts in the next 24 hours. Mr. Vijayan counselled residents to heed State Disaster Management Authority warnings and move to relief camps, if required. Tamil Nadu has rushed a relief team to Wayanad. Concern about the loss of lives in the devastating landslides in Wayanad resonated in both Houses of Parliament with members from Kerala demanding that the tragedy be declared a national disaster and enhanced funds allocated for rehabilitation. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, who represented Wayanad in 2019 and contested again from the seat in 2024 along with Rae Bareli, sought enhanced compensation for the next of kin of those killed in the incident and restoration of vital transport and communication. Kerala ignored recommendations to prevent such disasters, said ecologist Madhav Gadgil, who was the Chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel. He said the disaster in Wayanad was a man-made tragedy, attributing it to the Kerala government’s failure to implement crucial ecological recommendations. Mr. Gadgil criticised the State government for not adhering to the panel’s guidelines designed to prevent such disasters amid extreme climate changes. He highlighted that the panel’s report had classified the region into three levels of ecological sensitivity, with the areas now struck by the disaster being marked as highly sensitive. “No development should have taken place in these highly sensitive areas,” he said, noting that these zones had been utilised for tea plantations during the British period and had since seen extensive development, including the construction of resorts and artificial lakes. Mr. Gadgil said the presence of quarries operating a few kilometres from the disaster site had further exacerbated the situation. Though these quarries were now defunct, the shockwaves caused during their operational period could have extended to the disaster-stricken areas, triggering landslides during heavy rain, he said. Mr. Gadgil accused the government of rejecting the panel’s report, leading to recurring disasters in Wayanad and other parts of the State. He warned that without serious and proactive measures on the part of the State to implement the report’s recommendations, such disasters would recur, exacerbated by climate change, which could bring extreme rainfall and droughts. “Only if the government takes the report seriously can such disasters be avoided,” Mr. Gadgil said. The Hindu’s Editorial Option or stratagem?: On Governors, powers and Bills ​Impatience with jobs: On the Budget speech The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Who is the Finance Secretary of India? TV Somanathan Ananta Nageswaran Rajiv Kumar Amitabh Kant To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 31 July 2024 [The Hindu logo] [EP Logo] Editor's Pick 31 July 2024 In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( More than 100 dead as landslides flatten Wayanad villages [At least 122 persons were killed and 197 injured after multiple landslides]( flattened some three villages in Vythiri taluk of the hilly Wayanad district of Kerala early on Tuesday. The death toll is expected to climb as more persons are feared trapped. As many as 25 mangled body parts were recovered from the Chaliyar river near Pothukallu area in Malappuram district and four from Chooralmala in Wayanad. The Kerala government has declared a state of mourning for two days. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said an intense rescue effort involving State and Central forces was under way in the Mundakkai, Chooralmala and Attamala localities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex gratia payment of ₹2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured. The government has identified a waterlogged hillock 6 km from the villages, which abutted the Iruvanipuzha river, as the origin of the landslides. The first landslide occurred at 2 a.m. when residents were asleep. The cascading wave of sodden mud, boulders, and uprooted trees measured at least two floors in height if the waterline visible on a multi-storey school building was anything to go by. Images showed a wide, muddy slash on the verdant, uninhabited hillside, where the mud had slid down to bury the villages thousands of metres below. The second landslide occurred at 4.10 a.m. The moving landmass roared over the devastated locality and plunged into the swollen river, changing its course and flooding neighbouring localities. “In the place of one river, there are two now,” Mr. Vijayan told mediapersons in Thiruvananthapuram. The second landslide wiped out the Chooralmala bridge across the Iruvanipuzha, cutting off the disaster site from search and rescue teams. Hundreds of landslide survivors hunkered down in nearby hill resorts and schools, waiting for rescue workers to evacuate them to safer ground. The Chief Minister said the rugged locality, a switchback of hills and forests favoured by tourists, received more rainfall than anticipated. He said according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast on Monday, the area was supposed to receive rainfall in the range of 64 mm to 204 mm (orange alert) in the 24 hours. However, the area where the disaster struck recorded 200 mm in the first 24 hours and 372 mm of rain in the next, [a total of 572 mm of rain in just 48 hours.]( He said revenue officials had reduced the scale of the disaster by evacuating several settlements around the hill, including the lone tribal settlement at Chembra. However, the landslide took an unexpected path. The erased villages did not fall under the government’s disaster-prone zone. Officials told The Hindu in Wayanad that several of the dead were plantation workers from West Bengal and northeastern States, making the identifying process difficult. One of those killed is a native of Tamil Nadu. He was identified as K. Kalidoss of the Nilgiris district. The native of Marappalam in Gudalur taluk went to Mundakkai Chooralmalai for construction work. The incessant rain triggered more landslides at Puncharimattam, Munutti, Irupanthoppu and Vellarimala. The government has put the State’s official machinery on an active footing as it braces for heavy rain in eight districts in the next 24 hours. Mr. Vijayan counselled residents to heed State Disaster Management Authority warnings and move to relief camps, if required. [Tamil Nadu has rushed a relief team to Wayanad.Â]( about the loss of lives in the devastating landslides in Wayanad resonated in both Houses of Parliament with members from Kerala demanding that the tragedy be declared a national disaster and [enhanced funds allocated for rehabilitation.Â]( Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, who represented Wayanad in 2019 and contested again from the seat in 2024 along with Rae Bareli, sought enhanced compensation for the next of kin of those killed in the incident and restoration of vital transport and communication. Kerala ignored recommendations to prevent such disasters, said ecologist Madhav Gadgil, who was the Chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel. [He said the disaster in Wayanad was a man-made tragedy]( attributing it to the Kerala government’s failure to implement crucial ecological recommendations. Mr. Gadgil criticised the State government for not adhering to the panel’s guidelines designed to prevent such disasters amid extreme climate changes. He highlighted that the panel’s report had classified the region into three levels of ecological sensitivity, with the areas now struck by the disaster being marked as highly sensitive. “No development should have taken place in these highly sensitive areas,” he said, noting that these zones had been utilised for tea plantations during the British period and had since seen extensive development, including the construction of resorts and artificial lakes. Mr. Gadgil said the presence of quarries operating a few kilometres from the disaster site had further exacerbated the situation. Though these quarries were now defunct, the shockwaves caused during their operational period could have extended to the disaster-stricken areas, triggering landslides during heavy rain, he said. Mr. Gadgil accused the government of rejecting the panel’s report, leading to recurring disasters in Wayanad and other parts of the State. He warned that without serious and proactive measures on the part of the State to implement the report’s recommendations, such disasters would recur, exacerbated by climate change, which could bring extreme rainfall and droughts. “Only if the government takes the report seriously can such disasters be avoided,” Mr. Gadgil said. 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