Wayanad landslides: It keeps raining disaster, but did it have to come to this?

As of Thursday morning, 1 August, the death toll in the Wayanad landslides has risen to 282, with over 200 people injured in the hilly areas near Meppadi. More than 8,300 people are living in 82 camps for now.  

The Army-led search-and-rescue mission in the devastated areas of Mundakkai and Chooralmala had saved over 1,000 people by Wednesday, 31 July. However, 240 individuals remain missing. In the 48 hours leading up to Tuesday morning, 30 July, the Mundakkai region had received 572 mm of rain, an alarmingly high amount.  

As search-and-rescue operations resumed on Thursday morning after a brief overnight pause, adverse weather  continues to pose significant challenges in the area. As the rain continues, all non-emergency travel has been prohibited in Wayanad district, with checkpoints set up at Engapuzha in Kozhikode.  

The Army has established a command and control centre in Kozhikode, led by Maj. Gen. V.T. Mathew and Brig. Arjun Segan, to coordinate humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) efforts. 

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is en route from Kozhikode to Wayanad, accompanied by chief secretary Dr V. Venu and DGP Shaik Darvesh Sahib. Former Wayanad MP and Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, along with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, are expected to visit the medical college and relief campsto meet with affected families. An all-party meeting, chaired by the chief minister, will also be held in the district. 

On Thursday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has again issued a yellow alert for nine districts: Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod. This warning signals heavy rainfall of between 64.5 and 115.5 mm within 24 hours. 

In response, authorities have declared a holiday for all educational institutions in these districts, as well as in Kanjirappally and Meenachil taluks of Kottayam. 

According to reports, Brig. Segan conducted a reconnaissance of the affected areas and directed Army units on ongoing rescue operations on Wednesday. Troops are working along a 6km stretch of the landslide-affected areas. HADR teams have been mobilised from Kannur, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. 

Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has urged Union home minister Amit Shah to declare the Wayanad landslides as a “calamity of a severe nature” under the MPLADS guidelines, in order to facilitate urgent assistance from MPs for the affected areas. 

Disaster not unprecedented, could have been mitigated (if not avoided)

It has been reported that despite clear warnings of a potential landslide, the district administration issued a general alert only by 10:35 p.m. on Monday evening (28 July), without any mention of an evacuation, even though rainfall in all landslide-prone zones had exceeded 200 mm, prompting an alert from the District Emergency Operating Cell (DEOC) by Monday morning already.  

Two days earlier, on 26 July, the Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology, an NGO with extensive weather monitoring in Wayanad, had warned of possible landslides in Puthumala, Mundakkai, Punchirimattam, Chooralmala, Thettamala, Kappikkalam and Thondanad. Immediate evacuation of residents in these ecologically sensitive areas was recommended.  

Wayanad additional district magistrate K. Devaki could not recall the timing or content of Monday’s public alert. The issue has escalated into a dispute between the central and state governments. Home Minister Amit Shah has claimed in Parliament that the Kerala government ignored multiple warnings from the Centre, starting 23 July.

In response, Vijayan denied that any government agency issued a red alert, saying,  “Between July 23 and 29, the CWC did not issue a flood warning for either the Iruvazhinji or Chaliyar Rivers.” Despite this, both rivers flooded. Mutilated bodies of landslide victims have been found several kilometres away in Malappuram, carried by the Chaliyar.   

Regarding the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, Pinarayi noted that Kerala had requested nine units before the monsoon, with one unit being deployed to Wayanad. “These are the facts. What was said in Parliament was not accurate,” the Kerala chief minister added.