Rescue workers carry bodies after postmortem examination
IDUKKI: The toll in the Pettimudy-Rajamala landslide climbed to 26 following the recovery of more bodies on Saturday. The landslide triggered by heavy rains had destroyed 30 houses in four tea estate layams (workers’ quarters) in the early hours of Friday.
“Currently, 44 people are still missing,” Devikulam sub-collector S Premkrishnan told TOI. Almost all members of a large family of 21 are missing. Only the body of one member of the family — Mayil Swamy (48) who worked as a driver at Eravikulam National Park — has been recovered.
“In the morning, there was no rainfall in the area, so we intensified search operations. However, we had to stop all operations in the evening due to heavy rains. The search operations will resume on Sunday,” said Premkrishnan.
Some of the recovered bodies are yet to be identified. The deceased, who have been identified, are Gandhiraj (48), Sivakami (38), Ramalakshmi (40), Murukan (46), Mayil Swamy, Kannan (40), Annadurai (44) Rajeswari (43), Kausalya (25), Thapasiyammal (42), Nitheesh (25), Paneerselvam (50), Ganeshan (40), Raja (35), Vijila (47), Kuttiraj (48), Pavanthai (52), Shanmukaayyan (58), Manikandan (20), Deepak (18), Prabha (55), Sindu (13) and Vishal (12).
Burial done near landslide spot
“ We prepared a burial ground near the landslide spot. The bodies were buried there after postmortem,” said the Devikulam sub-collector. The news of the landslide came to knowledge of the outside world only on Friday morning after some local residents walked to a forest department check post at Rajamala and informed officials about the disaster. Immediately, a forest department team led by Eravikulam park range officer Job J Neriamparampil rush to the spot and started rescue operations. Bad weather and collapse of a temporary bridge at Periyavarai had made access to Pettimudy difficult and power outage caused a breakdown in communication network. Revenue minister E Chandrasekharan, power minister M M Mani and Idukki MP Dean Kuriakose visited the landslide spot. Meanwhile, the Kanan Devan Hills Plantation (KDHP) Ltd has announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to victims’ kin.
