Toll in Idukki landslide now 42; Oppn parties attack CM
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The death toll in the landslide at a tea estate in Kerala’s Idukki district rose to 42 on Sunday as rescuers recovered 16 more bodies, officials familiar with the matter said, adding that 28 people continued to be missing.
Three days of heavy rain triggered the landslide in the early hours of Friday that razed a tea plantation workers’ settlement in Idukki.
“Rescue work is in full swing. Latest equipment reached the site and rescue personnel are cutting big boulders to clear the site. They are also using sniffer dogs,” said district collector H Dineshan.
Officials feared that the missing count might rise as students staying in hostels had returned to their homes in the area due to the coronavirus pandemic. Right now officials have estimated the missing numbers based on the staff records maintained by the workers’ employer, Kannan Devan Hill Plantation (KDHP) Limited.
A team of 75 National Disaster Response Force personnel along with fire and healthcare workers are currently engaged in the rescue work.
Rains lashed many parts of Kerala on Sunday amid predictions of extremely heavy rainfall in six districts. The regional centre of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Idukki and six other districts, warning of heavy rainfall in the coming days in Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram and Alappuzha. There is likely to be a reduction in rainfall from Tuesday, it said.
Incessant rains, landslides and opening of shutters of dams across rivers have led to rise in water levels in rivers and streams in central Kerala, aggravating the flood situation.
Six shutters of Pamba dam in Pathanamthitta district were opened this afternoon after its water level rose to 983.45 meter mark, raising concerns about floods in other regions.
Opposition parties accused chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan of apathy. “We want the CM to visit the area at the earliest to realise the gravity of the situation,” said Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and minister of state (MoS) for external affairs V Muraleedharan asked why compensation promised to the victims of the landslide (~2 lakh) was lower than that promised to the victims of Kozhikode plane crash (~10 lakh).
“Lives are same everywhere. I don’t know why such a variation in compensation is there in landslide victims’ case ,” said Muraleedharan.
The chief minister, however, maintained that all the victims and the families of those who died in the landslide will be duly compensated.