The landslide at Kerala’s Wayanad, which claimed the lives of four people, could have been the result of unscientific accumulation of earth excavated from the construction site of twin tunnels. The incident, which happened at Kalladi near Meenakshi Bridge, saw a massive section of hill crashing down on the construction site, uprooting trees and swallowing workstations, heavy machinery and everything else on its path.
The region received heavy rainfall, prompting authorities to stall work at the site of Wayanad - Kalladi tunnel work since Sunday. However, the debris from the construction site was accumulated in the area, and it was this massive pile of earth that came crashing down.
According to state minister T Siddique, a warning was given in a meeting involving Konkan Railway officials about the possibility of an accident during heavy rains. However, there was a failure to take necessary steps. "This is not a natural landslide. It is a man-made landslide. It happened due to the unscientific dumping of excavated earth," he told reporters. "The government will examine why this happened and why the earlier directions were not followed," Siddique added.
Chief Minister V D Satheesan also denied reports that non-issuance of an appropriate weather alert was the reason for the landslide. “It was caused due to the heap of mud not being cleared in time as directed by the authorities,” he added.
Eyewitness account
An eyewitness described to onManorama the events that led to the tragedy, stating how the massive hill came crashing down in seconds as workers ran for their lives. "Even the cement-plastered section around the tunnel mouth caved in. Nobody had time to escape. The mud kept coming like a river. It swept across the road, crushed machinery, destroyed a house and a mosque near the bridge, and only stopped after covering everything," he told onManorama.
The report also quoted another person who was the first to reach the disaster site, who called the scene terrifying. He added that many struggled to pull themselves out of the debris while many were trapped. "The mud is still unstable. Every minute is critical. We don't know how many people remain underneath,” he added.
Though the official statement from the government says seven people are missing, eyewitnesses say the number could be far higher as many vehicles remain trapped under the debris.
A senior government official told reporters here that there were no workers at the site and those feared trapped under the mud were engineers and security staff. "If work was going on there, it would have been a bigger tragedy," she said.
