The construction of a Bailey bridge to connect the landslide-hit areas, where several people are believed to be stranded, alongside the deployment of sniffer dogs and over 1,000 rescuers from Central and state emergency response teams conducting massive search operations, constitutes one of the largest rescue efforts in the Wayanad, devastated by a deadly calamity.Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said that the coordinated and extensive rescue operations by the NDRF, Army, and other agencies ensured that over 1,500 people were saved from the landslide-hit areas of Wayanad district, where as many as 167 people died and 191 are still missing.
Vijayan said the scenes in the Mundakkai and Chooralmala areas of the district were devastating. “These areas have been completely destroyed,” he said.
He also said that efforts to rescue as many people as possible from the disaster zone are progressing well.
Tiny makeshift bridges were erected over swollen rivers, and excavators were engaged non-stop in removing piles of debris and boulders as rescue missions continued in the landslide-hit hamlets of Wayanad.
Rescue personnel from the Army, NDRF, state emergency services personnel and local people fought against the adverse weather conditions and tough terrain to look for people who might be trapped under the debris of destroyed homes, mud, and rocks.
“In the two-day rescue operation, 1,592 people were rescued. This is the achievement of a coordinated and extensive mission to save so many people in a short span of time,” Vijayan said at a press conference here.