Landslides in India killed 45 people and rescued 250 others
Landslides in India caused by heavy monsoon rains killed at least 45 people, while at least 250 others were rescued from a landscape changed by mud and debris, officials said Tuesday.
The southern coastal state of Kerala has been hammered by torrential downpours, with blocked routes entering the disaster area in Wayanad district hindering relief efforts.
District director D.R. Meghasree told reporters that 45 people had died and another 116 were being treated in hospitals.
“My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones, and my prayers are with those who have been injured,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social networking platform X.
Images released by the National Disaster Response Force show rescue teams trudging through mud in search of survivors and transporting remains on stretchers out of the area.
Homes were caked in brown sludge as the power of the landslide’s impact spread vehicles, corrugated iron, and other debris around the disaster zone.
The Indian army said it has sent more than 200 soldiers to the area to assist state security authorities and fire personnel with search and rescue operations.
According to The Hindu newspaper, Kerala state excise minister M.B. Rajesh stated that around 250 individuals had been rescued thus far.
According to Modi’s administration, victims’ families will receive $2,400 (200,000 rupees) in compensation.
They are critical for agriculture, ensuring the livelihoods of millions of farmers and providing food security for South Asia’s almost two billion inhabitants.
However, they also cause havoc in the form of landslides and floods.
The incidence of fatal floods and landslides has risen in recent years, and experts believe climate change is compounding the situation.
Damming, deforestation, and development initiatives in India have all increased the human toll.
Intense monsoon rains hit India earlier this month, flooding areas of the financial hub Mumbai, and lightning struck the eastern state of Bihar, killing at least ten people.
Nearly 500 people were murdered in Kerala in 2018 after the state’s worst flooding in almost a century.
The deadliest landslide in recent decades in India occurred in 1998, when torrential monsoon rains caused rockfall, killing at least 220 people and entirely burying the little Himalayan village of Malpa.
AFP
