India: 108 dead after landslides in tea plantations

Landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains have devastated the area. tea plantation Tuesday in the southern Indian state of Kerala, killing at least 108 people while another 250 people were rescued from mud and debris. breakage.

The coastal state of Kerala was hit by torrential downpours at dawn, and roads leading to the disaster zone in Wayanad district are blocked, making relief operations complicated.

India: zones affected by a landslide © AFP – John SAEKI, Sabrina BLANCHARD

“This disaster resulted in the loss of 108 lives”, declared the chief minister of the state , Pinarayi Vijayan, in a press release. “This is one of the worst natural disasters Kerala has ever seen.”

One hundred and twenty-eight people were hospitalized after being rescued, he said. -he said. A previous report stated that 93 people were dead and 128 were injured.

“My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on the social network X, adding that his “prayers are with the injured.”

Wayanad is famous for its tea plantations in its hilly countryside, which rely on large numbers of casual workers for planting and harvesting.

Several neighbourhoods in the district were hit by two successive landslides while most residents were asleep.

Search operations in a landslide-hit area in Wayanad, India, on July 30, 2024 © AFP – R. J. Mathew

Images released by the National Disaster Response Force show rescue teams wading through mud looking for survivors and carrying bodies on stretchers out of the area.

Homes were covered in dark mud and the force of the landslide swept away cars, corrugated iron sheets and other debris around the disaster area.

The Indian Army said more than 200 soldiers had been deployed to the disaster site to help search for survivors.

The Indian Prime Minister's Office said victims' families would be compensated 2,200 euros.

– “Heartbreaking devastation” –

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A photograph released by India's disaster management agency, taken on July 30, 2024, shows its rescue workers searching for victims of the landslide that killed at least 25 people in the southern state of Kerala. © National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) – –

More than 3,000 people have taken shelter in relief camps around Wayanad district, Vijayan said.

More rainfall and strong winds lashed Kerala on Tuesday. Vijayan urged people “to be prepared and heed the warnings” about more potential disasters ahead. “Everyone should follow the instructions given by the authorities and not ignore them.”

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who represented Wayanad district in the Indian parliament during the previous term, described the scale of the devastation as “heartbreaking.”

A photograph released by India's disaster management agency, taken on July 30, 2024, shows its rescuers searching for victims of the landslide that killed at least 25 people in the southern state of Kerala. © National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) – –

“Our country has witnessed an alarming increase in landslides in recent years” and “there is an urgent need to put in place a comprehensive action plan to deal with the increasing frequency of natural disasters,” he added.

Kerala's disaster management agency had earlier warned that more heavy rain and winds were expected later today.

The monsoons that hit South Asia from June to September provide respite from the summer heat and are essential for replenishing water reserves.

But they also lead to floods and landslides, causing material damage and multiple deaths, the number of which has increased in recent years, particularly due to climate change, experts say.

Rescue and search operations for victims of the landslide in Wayanad, India on July 30, 2024 © AFP – R. J. Mathew

Dams, deforestation or development projects in India are also factors in the worsening of the human toll.

Intense monsoon storms had already hit the country earlier this month. Parts of the megacity of Mumbai were flooded, while lightning killed at least ten people in the northeastern state of Bihar.

In Kerala, at least 25 people were killed in floods and landslides in 2021. In 2018, nearly 500 others lost their lives in the worst floods recorded in the state in more than a century.

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