Three killed, five missing in landslide at Wayanad tunnel project site

Wayanad: At least three people were killed, 10 injured, and five remained missing after a rain-soaked mound of excavated earth gave way at the site of a multi-crore tunnel project in Meppadi panchayat in this hill district, with two state ministers describing the landslide as man-made.

According to officials, the landslide occurred near Meenakshi Bridge at Kalladi, where work on a tunnel road project connecting Kozhikode and Wayanad districts was under way.

The accident site is close to the Mundakkai-Chooralmala villages, where a devastating landslide claimed many lives in 2024.

A video clip showed the mound of mud, which had accumulated near Meenakshi Bridge, suddenly collapsing in the rain, bringing down trees and sweeping away the metal and cloth barricades set up near the tunnel construction site.

In a statement, the district administration said a total of 18 persons were affected by the disaster.

Of them, three were killed, 10 are undergoing treatment at Meppadi WIMS Hospital, and the search is on for five others who are still missing.

Officials said those living in nearby areas were being evacuated.

A senior government official told reporters that there were no workers at the site and that those feared trapped under the mud were engineers and security staff.

“If work had been going on there, it would have been a bigger tragedy,” she said.

A private bus reportedly used to ferry workers, which was parked at the site, was pushed into the nearby river by the landslide and was lying half-submerged as water flowed through it.

Sniffer dogs of the state police have been deployed at the site to trace those trapped under the thick mud, the statement said.

It also said facilities had been made available at the Mundakkai Forest Station and the Chooralmala church hall to shift locals, including members of tribal communities, stranded on both sides of the bridge.

“It is an unfortunate incident. Rescue efforts are under way,” Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan said.

He added that the necessary rescue forces were reaching the area and that police as well as fire and rescue personnel had already been deployed at the site.

Additionally, a defence team was on standby in Thrissur and could be deployed at the site if required, the CM said.

All necessary systems for search and rescue would be put in place as soon as possible, he assured.

Satheesan said the contractors had been told well in advance by Public Works Department Minister P K Basheer and the district collector to remove the huge quantity of mud accumulated in the area.

“However, the contractors did not abide by the directions,” the CM told reporters after reviewing the situation with officials of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority at their office in Thiruvananthapuram.

Responding to a query, Satheesan said the non-issuance of an appropriate weather alert was not the reason for the landslide and that it was caused by the heap of mud not being cleared in time despite directions from the authorities.

He said there had been heavy rainfall in the area before the incident. Though it had reduced in intensity, it was still creating difficulties for rescue personnel, the CM added.

Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and Agriculture Minister T Siddique said the incident at the Kalladi tunnel project site was not a natural landslide but a "man-made" one caused by the unscientific dumping of excavated earth.

"This is not a natural landslide. It is a man-made one. It occurred due to the unscientific dumping of excavated earth," Siddique told reporters.

The minister said concerns over the manner in which excavated soil was being dumped at the site had been raised earlier after heavy rains in Wayanad.

He said directions had been issued to assess the situation, remove the accumulated earth and stop work if required.

“The government will examine why this happened and why the earlier directions were not followed,” Siddique added.

Speaking to reporters in Kollam, Chennithala said the tragedy could have been avoided if the construction firm had removed the huge quantity of earth excavated during the tunnel work, in line with directions issued by the district administration.

Speaking to reporters after visiting the landslide site, North Zone DIG K Karthick said the deceased and the injured had been engaged in work at the construction site.

“One of the injured is a police sub-inspector who reached the spot for rescue operations. Apart from that, a woman resident of the area is also among the injured,” he said.

Karthick said rescue teams were also trying to clear the road buried under the debris, as several people remained stranded on the other side of the landslide.

Earth-moving machinery was being used to remove the debris to ascertain whether anyone was trapped beneath it, and rescue operations would continue through the night, he said.

The IMD issued a red alert in the district on Tuesday, as very heavy rainfall was recorded in the Mananthavady and Vythiri areas during the day.

The alert was issued at 12.30 pm, after the landslide at the Kalladi tunnel project site in Wayanad at around 11 am.

Incidentally, the devastating 2024 landslide in Wayanad’s Mundakkai-Chooralmala region, also in Meppadi panchayat, had killed around 250 people, with survivors still painfully recalling the tragedy.

That landslide, too, occurred in the month of July.