The death toll in the landslide incidents in Wayanad, Kerala has reached about 180. More than 191 people are still missing. Relief workers have rescued about 1 thousand people. Relief and rescue operations are still going on. The army has almost completed the construction of the bridge. According to the army, the bridge will be completed on Thursday (August 1). Relief and rescue operations will speed up as soon as this bridge is built. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are visiting Wayanad. Both the leaders will meet the affected families in the relief camp.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will chair the all-party meeting. The district administration said that state ministers, Wayanad MLAs and leaders of political parties present in the district will attend the meeting. As per information received till Wednesday night, more than 200 people are injured in the landslide incidents. According to the district administration, 100 of the dead have been identified. A statement said that the rescue operation is continuing for the third day and teams of Army, Navy and Coast Guard are conducting intensive search operations in Attamala, Mundakkai and Choorlamalla. A dog squad will also be deployed with each team.
The bridge will be ready by evening
In an effort to speed up rescue operations in the landslide-hit areas of Wayanad, a 190-foot long ‘Bailey Bridge’ is being constructed to connect the worst-affected areas of Mundakkai and Choorlamalai. The bridge, which has a load capacity of 24 tonnes, is expected to be completed by Thursday evening. The Madras Engineers Group (#MEG) team is making steady progress towards completing the construction of the bridge at Choorlamalai, demonstrating perseverance and dedication despite adverse weather conditions and rising water levels.
Statement of Major General Matthew
Regarding the relief and rescue work, Major General Mathew said, “We have been helping the Kerala government and people since the morning of July 30. We have recovered more than 100 bodies and the total number of bodies is much more than this. We have rescued many people, almost all those who needed help have been rescued and now we have to enter the houses and see if people are trapped. For this we need heavy equipment. The construction of the bridge will be completed by 10 am today and after that we will be able to bring heavy equipment to the site and start searching for people. We are building the bridge day and night, it is going to be completed today and it will speed up the search and rescue operation. We will also use our dog squad. More than 500 army personnel are at work.”
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