Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) [India], July 11 : The Keralam government on Saturday announced that an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh from the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) is hereby sanctioned to the dependents of those who lost their lives in the landslide at Kalladi Tunnel Phase-3 in Wayanad district.
According to the release, financial assistance for medical treatment, up to Rs 2 lakh, depending on the nature of the injuries, is also sanctioned for those who were injured.
It is hereby ordered to constitute an expert committee to investigate the cause of the Kalladi accident and submit a report. The committee shall examine whether the contractor violated any contractual conditions related to the tunnel construction, the circumstances that led to the incident, compliance with the environmental clearance granted by the Central Government, and the forest/environmental clearances issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It is further ordered that construction work related to the tunnel shall resume only after the expert committee's report is received.
Earlier in the day, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Fire and Rescue teams intensified search operations along the Meenachipuzha river to trace the lone missing person, Vikram Rana, as rescue efforts entered the fifth day following the Wayanad landslide.
Speaking to reporters here, Keralam Minister T Siddique said a dedicated team has been deployed to conduct a detailed examination of the river stretch, where visibility has improved significantly after excavation work in the upper reaches was halted.
"A team of NDRF, along with Fire and Rescue, has been constituted to examine in detail the river stretch area because yesterday and the day before, a thorough search was held when the work was going on here in the upper part of the Meenakshi River. Due to that, the water was muddy and it was not visible on the ground. Now, there is no work going on in the upper level and the water is very clear and visible. A thorough search and examination are going on. Mud and soil dumped here are going to be removed totally," Siddique said.
The intensified operation comes a day after the minister announced that rescue teams would focus on Zone 2 of the landslide site, where authorities believe a detailed excavation could help locate Vikram Rana, the project manager who remains missing.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the Wayanad landslide has risen to seven after rescue teams recovered the body of Rajesh, a native of East Midnapore in West Bengal, from the Meenachipuzha river downstream on Friday. The body was identified by family members and shifted for postmortem before being prepared for transportation to his hometown.
The landslide struck near the tunnel construction site at Kalladi in Meppadi Grama Panchayat on July 7, burying large sections of the worksite under several feet of debris. Personnel from the NDRF, Fire and Rescue Services and other agencies continue search and rescue operations using heavy machinery under challenging conditions.