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| Over 100 Killed After Landslides Devastate India Tea Estates |
WAYANAD, INDIA –Landslides, induced by relentless monsoon rains, ravaged tea
plantations in India, claiming the lives of at least 108 individuals on
Tuesday, while rescuers managed to save 250 others from the engulfing mud and
debris.
Torrential downpours have relentlessly pummeled the southern
coastal state of Kerala, obstructing roads leading to the disaster zone in
Wayanad district and complicating rescue operations.
"This catastrophe has resulted in the loss of 108
lives," stated Kerala's Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan. "This is
one of the worst natural calamities Kerala has ever witnessed."
An additional 128 people have been hospitalized following
their rescue.
"My thoughts are with all those who have lost their
loved ones and prayers with those injured," Prime Minister Narendra Modi
expressed on social media platform X.
Wayanad, renowned for its tea estates that span its hilly
terrain and depend on a large workforce of casual laborers for planting and
harvesting, was struck by two successive landslides before dawn, catching many
inhabitants in their sleep.
Images released by the National Disaster Response Force
depicted rescue crews wading through thick mud to search for survivors,
carrying bodies on stretchers from the devastated area. Homes were encrusted
with brown sludge, while the force of the landslide scattered cars, corrugated
iron, and other debris across the disaster site.
India's army has dispatched more than 200 soldiers to assist
state security forces and fire crews in search-and-rescue missions.
Modi's office announced that families of the deceased would
receive a compensation payment of $2,400 (200,000 rupees).
Vijayan reported that over 3,000 people are currently
sheltering in emergency relief camps throughout Wayanad district. More rainfall
and strong winds continued to batter Kerala on Tuesday, prompting Vijayan to
urge the public to remain vigilant and heed warnings of potential future disasters.
"Everyone should be willing to follow the instructions
given by authorities and not ignore them," he added.
Alarming Rise in Landslides
Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who previously
represented Wayanad in parliament, described the devastation as heartbreaking.
"Our country has witnessed an alarming rise in
landslides in recent years," he stated. "The need of the hour is a
comprehensive action plan to address the growing frequency of natural
calamities."
Monsoon rains, occurring from June to September, are crucial
for replenishing water supplies and vital for agriculture, sustaining the
livelihoods of millions of farmers and ensuring food security for nearly two
billion people in South Asia. However, these rains also bring destruction
through landslides and floods.
The frequency of fatal floods and landslides has surged in
recent years, with experts attributing this increase to climate change.
"The number of extremely heavy rainfall days has
increased," noted Kartiki Negi of the Indian environment think tank Climate
Trends. "The atmosphere is quite disturbed. Thus, we see more and more
extreme events these days."
Human activities such as damming, deforestation, and
development projects in India have exacerbated the toll on communities.
Intense monsoon storms this month have battered India,
flooding parts of Mumbai and causing lightning strikes in Bihar that killed at
least 10 people.
In 2018, nearly 500 people perished in Kerala during the
worst flooding to hit the state in almost a century.
India's deadliest landslide in recent decades occurred in
1998, when heavy monsoon rains triggered rockfalls that killed at least 220 people
and buried the tiny village of Malpa in the Himalayas.
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