Major landslide hits Wayanad after heavy rains; over 30 feared trapped

RESCUE and relief operations are underway in Wayanad district after a major landslide was reported at the Kalladi tunnel construction site on Tuesday due to heavy rains. 

According to officials, the landslide occurred near Meenakshi Bridge at Kalladi, where work on a tunnel road project connecting Malappuram and Wayanad districts was underway.

Officials said residents rescued three people from the site, where workers associated with the tunnel project were staying.

Apart from that, a few vehicles that transport tunnel employees were damaged in the landslide.

Landslide hits Wayanad

Police and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel have also been deployed for the rescue operation. Local media reports said that at least 30 people could be trapped inside.

The work for Anakkompoyil-Meppadi started last year, connecting Malappuram and Wayanad districts.

Residents said that large earth-moving machines will be required to remove the soil and start the search operation.

The authority said that the work on the tunnel project had been suspended since Monday.

The people injured in the incident were moving around the work site when the debris slid down, KSDMA officials said.

2024 Wayanad landslide

The hill district of Wayanad has a long history of landslides and other natural disasters during the monsoon season. In 2024, a major landslide hit Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Chooralmala, and Vellarimala villages in Meppadi panchayat of Wayanad, in which 254 people were killed and 397 were injured.

A total of 118 people also went missing after the landslide in the early hours of 30 July and are believed to have been buried alive in the debris.