The local elders were suspicious when they saw the two-way flow of the river on Tuesday itself . Many did not take it seriously, believing that it might be due to the continued heavy rain. But the mudslides were the first landslides that occurred at Vellarimala in Meppadi range of South Wayanad Forest Division. Rocks and trees that came from Vellarimala were slowly increasing the level of the two-way river. On Tuesday morning, the course of the river changed again when it erupted again. Olichuchattam, Swargam Kunnu, Mastakappara, Muthappanpuzha and Maripuzha were the favorite areas of the trekkers. Today it is a disaster land where death is the norm.
A highly adventurous rescue mission: Before going from Churalmala to Mundakai, Iruvajanjippuzha had to be crossed. A small bridge across the river was the link between the two banks. Now there is no bridge, no link. On the first day of the rescue mission, he was stuck without a way to reach the rolled limb. The soldiers and the rescue workers reached the other side with extreme caution, holding on to the tied rope. So the army that reached Mundakai had a lot to do there.
While one team began the search, another team lined up across the arduous path to bring rescuers and recovered bodies ashore. The river is still flowing. One by one they made it to the safe shores, holding on to the rope and keeping their feet firmly in the mud. The found lifeless bodies were also carried and brought to Churalmalakippuram. The children who were left alive in the disaster-stricken Mundakai were handed over by the hands of those who had not even seen them till now, and the tears of hope were extinguished.
There is nothing left in Mundakai: There is nothing left of Mundakai, which had more than five hundred houses. Only a few domesticated animals survived the landslide. The two-way river that flowed diverted and joined Chaliyar by lining all these houses. And countless human lives were taken.
When the army and the rescue workers reached Mundakai, where everything was in a mess of stone, soil, rock, wood, water and mud, they saw nothing but a flat land. Only about thirty partially damaged houses remain. Even walking in knee-deep mud is difficult. Here and there are the remains of collapsed buildings. It is not known whether there are still pulses of life under this.
The army has brought in sniffer dogs from Delhi, trained in detecting people alive in such areas. Hope is now on them. It will take more time to recover the living people and dead bodies from underground.
Up to 20 dead bodies in some houses: Those who were in the rescue mission said that they found 10 to 20 dead bodies in somehouses . Meppadi panchayat member K Babu said that they may have sought shelter in closed houses which they thought were safer to save their lives when the mountain water came.
Here the houses had boundaries. The river had its limits. But when it fell on Vellarimala, all the boundaries disappeared. Army personnel from Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai are involved in rescue operations here along with the locals.
Army Control Room : An Army Control Room to coordinate rescue operations is functioning at Meppadi, 12 km from Chural Mala. Four columns of soldiers of DSC and Territorial Army’s 122nd Battalion are deployed here. The rescue mission, which was halted on the first day due to heavy fog, resumed in the disaster area from 6 am.
The military was divided into two teams. One team focused on searching for those trapped in Mundakai and Attamala and recovering bodies covered in mud and mud. Another group was trying to build a bridge to Chural Hill.
The team including the medical team from 91 Infantry Battalion reached Mepadi in the morning via Kozhikode. A team of Madras Engineering Group consisting of one officer, two JCOs and 120 soldiers arrived at 2.30 am on Wednesday with materials for the construction of the bridge. The rest of the materials, including the 110-foot set for the Bailey bridge being built at Churalmala, were delivered by noon. The three expert sniffer dogs brought from Delhi were brought to Wayanad via Kannur.
Extrication of corpses by cutting slabs: The task force cut slabs from the fallen concrete roofs and slabs of thecollapsed houses using concrete cutters and extracted many bodies. There is no clear estimate of how many people were in Mundakai and Churalmala at the time of the landslide. It is believed that there were more than eight hundred people in Mundakai alone.
Many houses are completely underground. Trained dogs are also used for the search. The rescue team is searching inside many houses by catching the smell of dead bodies. Due to the continuous rain, the water in Mundakai is getting back to the rescue workers. The rescue mission is progressing by including panchayat members who know the area and have an understanding of the houses and households.
