Wayanad, 7 July 

At least one person was killed, seven injured and as many missing following a landslide here that was described as "man-made" by a Kerala Minister.

According to officials, the landslide occurred near Meenakshi Bridge at Kalladi, where work on a tunnel road project connecting Kozhikode and Wayanad districts was underway. The mishap site comes under the Meppady panchayat, which witnessed the tragic 2024 landslide.

A video clip showed the mound of mud, accumulated near the Meenakshi Bridge, suddenly collapsing due to the rain, bringing down trees and blowing away the metal and cloth barricades set up at the construction site.

Chief Minister VD Satheesan said that one person was killed and seven injured. At least seven persons are missing in the landslide.

Satheesan, speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, said that the contractors had been told much in advance by the Public Works Department Minister PK 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 said after reviewing the situation with officials of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) at their office.

"It is an unfortunate incident. Rescue efforts are going on," he added.

Responding to a question from reporters, Satheesan said that non-issuance of an appropriate weather alert was not the reason for the landslide, and it was caused due to the heap of mud not being cleared in time as directed by the authorities. He said that there was heavy rainfall in the area before the incident. Though it has reduced in intensity currently, it was creating difficulties for the rescue personnel, the chief minister added.

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 landslide. It happened due to the unscientific dumping of excavated earth," he 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.

Directions had been issued to assess the situation, remove the accumulated earth and stop work if required, he said. "The government will examine why this happened and why the earlier directions were not followed," Siddique added.

CM Satheesan said that necessary rescue forces are reaching the area and the police as well as fire and rescue personnelwere already deployed at the site. Additionally, a defence team was ready at Thrissur for being deployed at the site if required, he said.

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

Meanwhile, a rain red alert was issued by the IMD on Tuesday in the district, where very heavy rainfall was received in Mananthavady and Vythiri areas during the day.

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

A red alert was also sounded in the neighbouring Kozhikode district by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), while orange alerts were issued in the Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts of the state. Vythiri received 123 mm rainfall during the day and Mananthavady recorded 64 mm.

A red alert indicates extremely heavy rainfall of over 204 mm in 24 hours, while an orange alert means very heavy rain of 115 mm to 204 mm, and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 64 mm to 115 mm. Meanwhile, those living in nearby areas are being evacuated.

A senior government official told reporters here that there were no workers at the site and those feared trapped under the mud were engineers and security staff. "If work was going on there, it would have been a bigger tragedy," she contended.

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

Incidentally, the devastating 2024 landslide in Wayanad's Mundakkai-Chooralmala region, also in Meppady Panchayat had killed about 250 persons, with the survivors still painfully recalling the natural tragedy. That landslide also happened in the month of July.