A landslide struck a tunnel construction site in Wayanad, Kerala, on Tuesday morning, killing at least one person and leaving seven missing. Seven others were injured.
The collapse happened near Meenakshi Bridge at Kalladi, close to the Anakkompoyil-Meppadi tunnel project. The tunnel is meant to connect Malappuram and Wayanad districts.
What Officials Said
Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan said contractors had ignored repeated warnings to clear excavated soil from the site.
“The soil there is mixed with mud and has got a different texture,” Satheesan said. “The disaster management authority had examined the area and told the contractors to remove it. Failure to remove soil from the place caused this mishap.”
Satheesan reviewed the rescue operation with officials from the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority. He rejected suggestions that a delayed weather alert was to blame.
Agriculture Minister T. Siddique, who visited the site, called the disaster avoidable.
“This is not a natural landslide,” Siddique said. “It is a man-made landslide. It happened due to the unscientific dumping of excavated earth.”
Rescue Operations Underway
Fire and Rescue Services, police, and the National Disaster Response Force are searching for the missing. A defense team is on standby in Thrissur in case more support is needed.
Local residents pulled three people from the debris before official rescue teams arrived. A bus used to transport workers was swept into a nearby river during the landslide.
Satheesan said Revenue Minister A.P. Anil Kumar and Siddique were sent to coordinate the response on the ground.
Background
The India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for Wayanad shortly after the landslide, warning of extremely heavy rainfall. Vythiri received 123 millimeters of rain and Mananthavady recorded 64 millimeters over the previous day.
The Anakkompoyil-Meppadi tunnel project began last year. The disaster struck the same Meppady panchayat devastated by a landslide in July 2024, which killed more than 400 people in the villages of Chooralmala and Mundakkai. That disaster remains one of the deadliest in Kerala’s history.
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