Idukki/Kochi: Forty-six workers are still missing more than 36 hours after the massive landslide at a tea plantation in Idukki district of Kerala. Twenty-four people were killed when a row of workers' quarters was buried in an avalanche of mud before dawn on Friday.
Personnel of the National Disaster Response Force, the police and fire service, aided by local people, were searching in the rubble for survivors on Saturday.
The earth caved in on an row of 20 workers' dwelling units, locally called layams, at the plantation owned by Kannan Devan Hill Plantations Company in Pettimudy in Rajamala near Munnar.
Records kept by the company showed that there were 81 persons in the lane houses. But local people dispute the figure because many workers, most of whom are from Tamil Nadud, tend to have relatives over. Further, this year there has been an infiltration of people into tea estates because of the coronavirus scare in the cities.
Local residents said they fear many more casualties than what the administration is admitting.
The NDRF's chief in charge of south Indian states, Rekha Nambiar said a 55-member team is engaged in the search operation, which is currently focused on a river nearby where bodies are likely to be stuck in the slush.
Rescue teams have managed to retrieve 15 people from the debris since Friday morning. Injured people have been admitted to the Tata Hospital in Munnar and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Medical College in Kolencherry.
Idukki district collector H Dineshan told PTI that rain has hampered the rescue effort, More rains have been forecast for the high ranges of Munnar on Saturday and Sunday.
The India Meteorological Department has revised the red alert warnings for Idukki, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur and forecast extreme heavy rainfall above 20 cm on Saturday.
