Rescue mission continues as landslide deaths exceed 170 in India

More than 170 people have been killed and almost 200 injured in a series of landslides that struck two villages in the southern Indian state of Kerala on Tuesday.

Rescuers are continuing the search for 200 more people believed to be trapped under debris. The Indian Navy's Southern Command has sent dozens of relief personnel after a call for aid from Kerala's disaster management authority. Search and rescue dogs have also been flown in from Delhi, the army said on X (formerly Twitter).

The rescue effort has been impeded by torrential rains in the state, with meteorologists predicting heavy showers in Kerala for the next 48 hours.

The death toll is expected to rise further, as dozens of people are still missing, according to local authorities. On Thursday, the state government will convene an all-party meeting on the crisis.

The state government of Kerala declared two days of mourning on July 30 and 31. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh ($2,380) for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 ($600) as compensation for the injured.

Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, leaders of the biggest opposition party, the Indian National Congress, are expected to visit the crisis-hit region on Thursday. Rahul, who was elected to the lower house of parliament from his family’s stronghold of Amethi in the state of Uttar Pradesh this year, served until recently as the parliamentary representative from the Wayanad area.

A total of 45 camps have been established for relief efforts across the district, so far accommodating 3,069 people. Members of the Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists (IACP) are providing support to the landslide survivors, The Hindu newspaper has reported. The state’s health department has opened two helplines for emergency assistance.

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Each year, landslides kill hundreds of people in India during the monsoon season, with hilly states being particularly affected.

The Kerala landslide is believed to have been triggered by exceptionally heavy rains, a direct result of warming in the Arabian Sea, S. Abhilash, director of the Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research at Cochin University of Science and Technology, told PTI news agency. “The southeast Arabian Sea is becoming warmer, causing the atmosphere above this region, including Kerala, to become thermodynamically unstable,” Abhilash explained.

The Wayanad district of Kerala had been a major focus of a national-level database created by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2023, with exposure to landslides posing a threat to “key socio-economic parameters.”

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