Technology, dogs seek life under destruction, more stories of hope emerge – ThePrint – PTIFeed

Wayanad (Kerala), Aug 2 (PTI) Rescue teams on Friday used state-of-the-art technical equipment and dogs to pull out potential survivors or remove bodies buried under the rubble resulting from one of the worst natural disasters to hit Kerala, the Wayanad landslide, while helping hands were extended from remote corners of the state to the hilly region.

Among them was a woman from Kollam who parted with her meagre savings to help those affected here. Subaida, a fraudster, may not have been as generous as the entrepreneurs and celebrities who have contributed hundreds of thousands of rupees for relief and rehabilitation, but her contribution of Rs 10,000 and family pensions was a gesture worth mentioning.

Rescuers conducting search operations in landslide-hit Mundakkai village have detected a breathing signal, raising hopes of survival in a collapsed building covered in thick mud.

An official involved in the operation said a “blue signal” was picked up on radar while searching the area where the house had previously been located in the hard-hit village of Mundakkai.

However, the search was ended on Friday evening as rescuers deemed it unlikely that there was a human presence under the rubble.

In a Facebook post late in the evening, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the search for life was on and radars were detecting even the slightest movements, giving a glimmer of hope.

“Amid the darkness and the rubble of the collapsed building, rescuers continue their efforts, determined to find any survivors,” he said.

Earlier, a family of four was rescued from an isolated house in the Padavetti Kunnu area on the fourth day of deadly landslides, giving hope to hundreds of rescuers racing against time to find survivors. With nearly 300 people still missing, the death toll is likely to rise.

The massive landslide that hit Wayanad district in the early morning hours of July 30 claimed the lives of 210 people and injured 273. According to the Kerala Health Department, 134 body parts were also recovered.

Search and rescue operations, which resumed early on Friday morning, gained momentum as a Bailey bridge helped rescue teams transport heavy equipment, including excavators and ambulances, to the worst-hit hamlets of Mundakkai and Chooralmala.

According to official sources, the scale of human losses will only be known when rescuers use heavy equipment to clear houses covered with rubble and wooden logs.

Authorities said many more body parts had been collected and that genetic testing was underway to identify the remains.

Kerala Minister for Persons with Disabilities, PA Mohammed Riyas, in the evening said that as per the district administration’s data, after taking into account Aadhaar documents, details of tourists, contacting ASHA workers and talking to people in refugee camps and hospitals, 218 people are missing.

Earlier in the day, Kerala District Attorney Ajith Kumar said 300 people were still missing.

Around 40 rescue teams along with sniffer dogs are carrying out search operations in six landslide-hit zones — Attamala and Aaranmala (first), Mundakkai (second), Punchirimattam (third), Vellarimala village (fourth), GVHSS Vellarimala (fifth) and the river bank (sixth), officials said.

In addition, a three-phase search operation was also launched, focusing on the Chaliyar River. Eight police stations along a 40-km stretch of the river teamed up with local swimming experts to search for bodies that may have floated downstream or gotten stranded on the river banks.

At the same time, another search operation is being conducted using a police helicopter.

Additionally, the Coast Guard, Navy and Forest Department jointly conducted a search operation, focusing on river banks and areas where bodies were likely to be found.

District Commissioner Meghashree DR said GPS coordinates from drone and mobile phone images, including the last location of people living in the landslide-hit areas, were being used to identify areas where search and rescue operations could be focused.

She also added that aerial photos taken by drones helped determine the GPS coordinates of specific search locations.

“We mapped this data and shared it with all teams so that search and rescue operations could be carried out efficiently and quickly,” she added.

State Finance Minister K Rajan had said a day earlier that a drone-based radar would arrive from Delhi on Saturday to locate bodies buried in the mud.

He added that six dogs were currently involved in the search operation and four more would join them from Tamil Nadu.

Dogs use their keen sense of smell to find survivors trapped under the rubble.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, visited the affected areas. He said he plans to raise the issue with Delhi and also with Vijayan as “this is a different level of tragedy and needs to be treated differently”.

He promised that the Congress party will build over 100 houses in Wayanad. PTI HMP RRT TGB PYK SA

This report is generated automatically by PTI news service. ThePrint is not responsible for its content.