CHOORALMALA, July 31 — Hopes of finding survivors began to fade as hundreds of rescuers worked through slush and rocks and pulled out bodies from debris in the hills of India's Kerala state today, a day after 167 people were killed in monsoon landslides.
Steady rain that intensified as the day progressed and the rising water level in a local river hampered the rescue, with a temporary bridge built to connect the worst affected area of Mundakkai being washed away.
The weather department has forecast more heavy rain over the next 24 hours, as Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urged people to be on "high alert".
Heavy rain in Kerala, one of India's most popular tourist destinations, led to landslides in its Wayanad district early yesterday, sending torrents of mud, water and tumbling boulders downhill and burying or sweeping people to their deaths as they slept.
It was the worst disaster in the state since deadly floods in 2018. Experts said the area had received heavy rain in the last two weeks that softened the soil, when extremely heavy rainfall on Monday (July 29) then triggered the landslides.
Nearly 1,600 people have been rescued from the hillside villages and tea and cardamom estates, authorities said today.
At least 167 people died, while the local Asianet News TV channel put the death toll at 230. Over 8,000 people were being sheltered in camps across the district.
Wayanad's district administrator said people had been asked today to shift to camps "as soon as possible as there is a danger".
Rescuers had found 24 bodies and six body parts today and were not hopeful of finding any survivors more than 36 hours after the tragedy, one official in Chooralmala town said.
Top state police officer M R Ajith Kumar told Reuters that the landslides were mostly on the upper slopes of hills which then cascaded to the valley below.
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Volunteers eat food as rescue operations continue after multiple landslides hit the hills in Wayanad district, in the southern state of Kerala, India, on July 31, 2024. — Picture by REUTERS[/caption]
Warming Arabian Sea
Nearly 350 of the 400 registered houses in the affected region have been damaged, Asianet News reported, citing district officials.
The Indian Navy said its disaster relief team had reached the area yesterday night and search-and-rescue helicopters were deployed early today, but adverse weather conditions due to "incessant rains" posed challenges.
India has witnessed extreme weather conditions in recent years, from torrential rain and floods to droughts and cyclones, blamed by some experts on climate change.
"Climate change has led to significant alterations in our environment. We need to take proactive steps to address and adapt to these changes.
Effective measures should be taken to prevent impending disasters," Chief Minister Vijayan said. "
The region hit by the landslide was forecast to get 204 millimetres of rainfall but ended up getting 572 millimetres over a period of 48 hours, he said yesterday.
"The Arabian Sea is warming at a higher rate compared to other regions and sending more evaporation into the atmosphere, making the region a hotspot for deep convective clouds," said Kerala's Cochin University of Science and Technology's Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research head S Abhilash.
"Deep developed clouds in the southeast Arabian Sea region were carried by winds towards land and produced this havoc," he told Reuters.
— Reuters
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Rescuers hold a stretcher as the search for survivors continues after several landslides hit the hills in Wayanad district, in the southern state of Kerala, India, on July 31, 2024. — Picture by REUTERS[/caption]
