Search operations continue in the areas affected by the landslides in Wayanad on July 30. (Photo: Reuters)
Search operations are continuing in the areas affected by the landslides in Wayanad on July 30, which left 225 people dead and thousands homeless. Fire services, NDRF, volunteers and local people will continue the rescue and search operations.
Meanwhile, residents bid farewell to the Indian Army troops, including the dog squad, as they leave Wayanad after a lengthy search, rescue and reconstruction operation.
IG North Zone, K Sethuraman, said: “This is not a mass search operation… The affected people should be assured that the search operation is being conducted properly and that no more bodies will be found… It is about building trust among them… People's representatives, NGOs, representatives of political parties, they are all welcome…”
The Kerala High Court has taken cognizance of the Wayanad landslides on its own initiative. The bench, comprising Justices Jayasankaran Nambiar and VM Shyamkumar, directed the registry to take up the case on its own initiative. The court also said it should consider what can be done legally to control things like illegal mining and floods.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit landslide-affected areas in Wayanad on August 10.
In a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, the chief minister said the state had requested the central government to declare the incident a national disaster and a serious calamity.
The Chief Minister said that postmortems of 420 bodies had been conducted in Wayanad so far, adding that search operations were ongoing.
He further explained that 225 deaths had been officially confirmed. The body parts of 195 people had been found in various locations. DNA samples from these body parts had been sent for examination. The search was not yet complete. Autopsies were carried out on 420 bodies, 178 bodies were handed over to relatives and 233 funerals took place.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: 09 August 2024 | 9:57 am IS
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