On August 6, Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters flew two search and rescue teams to the far-off Soochipara waterfalls and the densely forested Sunrise Valley beyond in an effort to recover bodies of Wayanad landslide victims swept away by a massive earthfall on July 30.
The choppers lifted off with rescue teams made up of Kerala Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG), the Army, and Forest department officials at about 11:30am from the Subha Krishna Memorial Jain (SKMJ) school grounds in Kalpetta in Wayanad.
There are also high-altitude operations specialists from the Army onboard. Also, SOG personnel specialises in abseiling down from helicopters to reach hostile terrains below them. These teams have all kinds of high quality rappelling equipment.
In a brief note on August 5, Revenue Minister K. Rajan who heads the Cabinet subcommittee for Wayanad described this as one of their most dangerous missions yet.
He mentioned that these teams would explore thickets around the edges of the falls and at least two rapids downstream.
Negotiating through dense undergrowth and searching for corpses hidden in overhangs made up by bushes, water reeds and knobby tree roots that dip into water makes up this operation.
Mr Rajan had stated that this operation would include both sides downstream until Chaliyar river in Malappuram district.
Chaliyar search
Simultaneously, numerous rescuers fanned out on both banks of Chaliyar river bordering Pothukal, Meenmutty, Iruttikutti Nagar which were found to contain many dead bodies washed out by a catastrophic landslide at Chooralmala, Mundakkai as well as Attamala localities upstream at Wayanad on July 30th.
Assisting with finding included sniffer dog squads and handlers, helicopters, Navy personnel on dinghies, local guides, aerial drones fitted with ground-penetrating radars and divers.
Ground zero
Law and Order Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), M.R. Ajith Kumar told reporters in Wayanad that the swampy mud had covered a wide area of the ground zero. However, due to continuous heavy rains rescue workers were unable to cover a large portion of slushy grounds.
However, now that it no longer rained, the mud has begun drying up. The police expect a more thorough examination of the site using sniffer dogs and ground penetrating radar might uncover additional bodies.
According to Mr. Kumar, there are hidden pitfalls in this district represented by wells, collapsed houses as well as septic tanks submerged in mud; if anybody falls into them chances are very high they won’t survive.
