"We are together irrespective of caste, religion, or politics," Kerala Congress MLA Siddique on Wayanad landslides
Wayanad: After landslides caused devastation in Wayanad, Kerala, Congress MLA, and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee General Secretary T Siddique pledged to rejuvenate the affected community, emphasizing unity regardless of caste, religion, or politics.
"We will rebuild every person here, their life, their shelter, their livelihood, their education, all will be sorted out. We are together irrespective of caste, religion, politics, everything. We are now concentrating on that," Siddique told ANI.
Speaking about the rescue efforts Siddique said, "In the first phase, we are concentrating on the rescue of the people. In the second phase, the medical treatment of the injured person and the management of the relief camps will be focused on. There is a huge difficulty. The third phase is the rehabilitation," he added.
The landslides that occurred on July 30 in Chooralmala and Mundakkai of Wayanad have resulted in the loss of 308 lives.
Earlier today, Union Minister and Thrissur BJP MP Suresh Gopi visited Kerala's Wayanad district to assess the situation caused by the landslides in the region.
The search and rescue operations in Kerala's Wayanad have entered its sixth day on Sunday, as several people are still feared trapped in the debris after landslides that occurred in Chooralmala and Mundakkai of Wayanad.
Providing details about the rescue operation, Wayanad District Collector Meghashree told ANI, that the rescue operation is in full swing, and over 1300 forces have been deployed for today's operation.
"Rescue operation is going on in full swing. Today, 1,300+ forces are deployed...volunteers are also there...yesterday volunteers who went for the rescue operation got stranded there, today we are taking precautions so that it doesn't happen," Wayanad District Collector told ANI.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister's Office has informed that night patrolling of the police has been instituted in Chooralmala and Mundakkai areas where landslides occurred.
Action will be taken against those trespassing in the houses or areas of the victims at night, the statement from CM's office said. No one should enter the houses or areas of these places at night without the permission of the police for the purpose of rescue operations, it added.
On Saturday, the Indian Air Force airlifted one ZAWER and four REECO radars from Siachen and Delhi to fasten the search operations in the landslide-affected areas of Wayanad.
On the same day, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Indian Army, and Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully rescued three personnel stranded at Soochipara Waterfalls, located in the landslide-hit Wayanad district of Kerala.
The death toll in the massive landslides that occurred on July 30 in Chooralmala and Mundakkai of Wayanad stands at 308 as of Friday, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said.
As per the latest update, 215 bodies and 143 body parts were recovered, including 98 males, 87 females, and 30 children.
The post-mortem procedures were completed on 212 bodies and 140 body parts, and 148 bodies have been identified by relatives so far.