Wayanad landslides: Search concentrated in Chaliyar river and its banks

Wayanad (Kerala), Aug 12 (PTI) The ongoing massive search in the aftermath of the devastating landslides recently is currently focused on the Chaliyar river, its banks and adjacent forest regions downstream, a senior police official said on Monday.

ADGP M R Ajith Kumar said that during the massive search operation, which involved a 190-member team comprising NDRF, police, Fire force, Forest Department officials, among others, the entire region will be scanned once again in search of missing persons.

According to the state government, the landslides on July 30 left 229 people dead, while over 130 are still missing.

Of the total bodies recovered, 51 are yet to be identified, they added.

Meanwhile, television channels reported that a few body parts were recovered during Monday’s search, which is still continuing after nearly two weeks of the landslide that almost decimated the Mundakkai and Chooralmala regions in Wayanad District.

“Police and the Fire Force, along with Forest Department officials, are searching in the forest region. The search is more concentrated in the river and the river banks. The upstream part has been searched completely. Now the downstream region is being searched,” Kumar told the reporters.

He also said all regions have been completely searched once, but since the water level changed in between, more bodies were recovered.

The search will continue and the entire region will be scanned again, he added.

The search operation was being held in five zones of the disaster-struck area since Monday morning.

The search to find the missing persons was stopped on Sunday after heavy rains in the Mundakkai and Chooralmala regions.