Wayanad, July 8: Three construction workers lost their lives and eight others sustained injuries when a massive landslide struck an ongoing tunnel project site at Kalladi near Meppady on Tuesday. Government officials pointed to unscientific soil dumping as the primary factor behind the disaster, which buried several laborers under debris. The mishap occurred amid severe downpours, prompting weather officials to sound an immediate red alert for the entire region.
Emergency teams including the National Disaster Response Force, police, fire services, and local volunteers managed to pull eight survivors from the rubble. The injured individuals, identified as Hira Kumar, Dileep, Suraj Yadav, Sanjay Thakur, Rajneesh, Tanmay Ghosh, Koopamal, and Kunju, were rushed to the Meppadi WIMS Hospital for urgent medical care. Meanwhile, authorities initiated emergency evacuations for nearby residential colonies, moving vulnerable families to a relief camp set up at the Chulikka Government LP School.
Top state officials expressed deep concern over the incident while noting that administrative warnings had been ignored. Chief Minister VD Satheesan confirmed that search operations remained active for any remaining missing persons. He maintained that the contractors had failed to comply with repeated directions from the authorities to remove excavated soil, even after clear warnings from the District Disaster Management Authority.
Sharing the sentiment regarding systemic failures, Agriculture Minister T Siddique stated that the catastrophe could have been avoided. He asserted that it was a disaster perpetuated by unscientific dumping of soil and mud as part of the tunnel project. He further declared that there were indications of such actions and they were raised at meetings of Konkan Railways officials, but it seemed no corrective steps were taken. He affirmed that the District Collector had previously given in writing to Konkan Railways regarding the chance of a landslide at the site.
