After reaching Chooralmala, Modi got down from his vehicle, interacted with rescue personnel about the rescue operations.
Published Aug 10, 2024 | 3:17 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 10, 2024 | 4:36 PM
PM Modi in Wayanad. (Supplied)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, 10 August, visited the landslide-affected areas of Kerala’s Wayanad district. The two consecutive landslides that hit the Chooralmala, Mundakkai, and Attamala areas of the district, on the night of 30 July, killing about 226 people.
Modi who arrived in Wayanad by helicopter from Kannur airport at around 11 am, trekked through the disaster-stricken Chooralmala area to get a firsthand view of the destruction.
In the aerial survey, he saw the origin of the landslide, which is in the origin of Iruvazhinji Puzha (River). He also observed the worst affected areas of Punchirimattam, Mundakkai and Chooralmala.
The prime minister is accompanied by Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and MoS Suresh Gopi.
#Kerala: PM @narendramodi completes Aerial Survey of #Wayanad. Heading to #Chooralmala via road from Kalpetta. He is expected to meet those in releif camps. pic.twitter.com/FnF0zddsIC
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) August 10, 2024
PM Modi is being briefed about the evacuation efforts. (Supplied)
After completing the aerial survey of the area in an IAF chopper, the prime minister landed at the SKMJ Higher Secondary School in Kalpetta and then travelled by road to Chooralmala, where a 190-foot-long Bailey bridge had been built by the army after the disaster. The PM walked on the bridge while surveying the damage.
Hundreds were gathered on the roadsides along the route taken by the PM’s convoy to Chooralmala to catch a glimpse of him.
After reaching Chooralmala, Modi got down from his vehicle, interacted with rescue personnel, state chief secretary V Venu and district officials, and surveyed the area—strewn with boulders and debris— on foot.
While in Chooramala, he has been briefed about the evacuation, relief and rescue operations, by the army personnel present.
Ahead of Modi’s visit, Leader of Opposition, and former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, urged the prime minister to declare the incident a national disaster.
Thank you, Modi ji, for visiting Wayanad to personally take stock of the terrible tragedy. This is a good decision.
I am confident that once the Prime Minister sees the extent of the devastation firsthand, he will declare it a national disaster.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 9, 2024
After the aerial survey, Modi visited a relief camp in Meppadi, where he interacted with the victims of the landslide.
He then met patients at Aster Wayanad Speciality Hospital (AWSH), where they were undergoing treatment, after being injured in the landslide.
The prime minister is thereafter expected to chair a review meeting where he will be briefed in detail about the incident and the ongoing relief efforts.
Meanwhile, in the wake of Modi’s visit the search operations in disaster-affected areas, including Mundakkai and Chooralmala, have been suspended on Saturday. The suspension is part of the stringent security measures in place for the prime minister’s visit.
Volunteers, search party members, and others involved in search operations were not allowed to enter the affected areas. The District Collector stated that the search operation will resume on Sunday, 11 August.
There are 23 relief camps operating in Wayanad District housing 2,243 people from 744 families.
There are 14 camps functioning in the disaster-hit region alone where 1,855 people from 642 families are housed. This includes 451 children and 700 women, the government said.
Apart from the dead, as many as 197 body parts have been recovered, while there are 133 people missing. Currently, 78 people are in various hospitals undergoing treatment.
Prime minister’s visit comes at a time when the Kerala government has sought ₹2,000 crore in assistance for rehabilitation and relief work in the disaster-stricken region.
Huge losses have been incurred with regard to the agriculture sector, livestock, houses, buildings, commercial establishments, roads and electricity, as well as private properties, the Kerala government said, and showed the central team the drone videos of the disaster-hit region.
Meanwhile, the state government said those who are in relief camps will be rehabilitated to various houses, including government quarters identified for the purpose.
Minister PA Muhammad Riyas said there are 125 houses, including government residential quarters, and most of them are ready for people to move into.
Riyas said the cabinet sub-committee has directed the district collector to make arrangements for the furniture and other home appliances required to rehabilitate the survivors.
He said the cleaning work in the disaster-hit regions will take at least 90 days, and the relief camps will continue to house people as long as needed.
The state government also said that the survivors will be provided cash assistance.
The cabinet sub-committee said the state government has taken a stern stand against financial institutions demanding loan repayments from disaster-struck families, and sought the intervention of the central team on this matter.
The central team, led by Rajeev Kumar, who is a joint secretary with the Ministry of Home Affairs, visited the disaster-hit region and interacted with the survivors.
The inter-ministerial central team said the impact of the Wayanad landslide is huge and a detailed study is required.
The team met with the Kerala cabinet sub-committee and discussed the various rescue operations, relief camps, autopsies, handing over of bodies to relatives of the deceased, funerals, the collection of DNA samples and the details of the missing people.
Member Secretary of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) Dr Sekhar L Kuriakose detailed the possible reasons behind the landslide.
The state government, in a release, said it has informed the central team that the Chooralmala, Mundakkai and Punchiri Mattam regions of Wayanad have suffered major losses both in residential areas and in the agricultural sector.
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula, with PTI inputs)
