WAYANAD: A total of eight unidentified bodies of landslide victims were buried in a grave at Puthumala on Sunday night, accompanied by funeral prayers as per Hindu, Muslim and Christian beliefs by religious leaders who stood next to each other. The tragic intensity of the disaster that wiped away two villages was evident at Puthumala, which itself bears the scars of another landslide that claimed 17 lives and wiped away a plantation settlement in 2019. Emotional sights abounded when the bodies of persons shattered by the landslide were united in grief and brought to the burial site - 64 cents handed over by Harrison Malayalam Plantations, where 30 graves were dug up.
Several people, including relatives of missing persons, had reached the spot at 4 pm to pay their last respects in the hope that their loved ones could be there among the unidentified bodies and body parts. The govt, meanwhile, said in a release that 221 bodies and 166 body parts (taking the toll to 381) had been recovered so far. The bodies included 87 women and 37 children while 172 of them have been identified.
Revenue minister K Rajan said the number of missing persons had come down to 180 from 206 earlier, as authorities could contact some of them over phone. Officials to work 24x7: CM On Sunday, Union minister for state Suresh Gopi visited the affected locations. Asked about the demand to declare the landslides as a national disaster, he said it was a matter that should be examined.
He lauded the rescue operations and said he would apprise the Centre about the situation here. At Puthumala, the bodies, which were kept in two halls at Meppadi, were taken to the mass burial ground in a convoy of ambulances at 9pm, and they were brought to the site at 9.50pm by health workers wearing PPE kits.
The funeral prayers were led by Kuttan, a karmi at Mariyamman Kovil, Fr Jibin Vattakalathil, vicar of St Sebastian Church, Chooralmala, and Musthalfal Faisi, qatib of Meppadi Juma Masjid. DNA samples from the unidentified bodies, which have been given specific numbers, have been collected and the process of collecting blood samples of relatives for crossmatching has also begun. Concrete poles bearing the number given to bodies were installed atop the graves.
Meanwhile, rescue operations continued for the sixth day on Sunday, with more personnel and equipment being deployed in areas where bodies were expected to be found. A drone-based detection system was also used to identify such locations. Search operations also continued along the Chaliyarriver , on the banks of which scores of bodies had washed up after the landslide.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said officials of various departments would work round-the-clock at the civil station in Kalpetta and the temporary control room in Chooralmala to complete disaster relief duties. Over a thousand employees are working in 15 teams at the collectorate and in Mundakkai-Chooralmala. Police have intensified security in Chooralmala and Mundakkai, following complaints of thefts from the abandoned houses.
“We have been living in relief camps after fleeing from the spot. When I went there the other day, what was left was just one wall and a cupboard, which was intact. My mother said her purse was inside the cupboard, and I asked my friends at Chooralmala to go and check.
After going there, my friends saw the cupboard opened and clothes were strewn around and money was missing from the purse,” Chundakkal native Jayesh said. Also, a controversy erupted after police allegedly asked the White Guard volunteers under MYL to stop food distribution to the rescue workers. Following this, there were reports that rescue workers didn’t get adequate food on Sunday.
However, revenue minister K Rajan rejected the charges, saying only food provided at collection points were being distributed after checks conducted by food safety officials..
