Search Continues for Five Missing Workers After Kalladi Landslide; Opposition Leader To Visit Site Today

Wayanad: Search operations will continue on Thursday for five tunnel construction workers who remain missing following the landslide at Kalladi in Wayanad.

Rescue teams have divided the affected area into four zones to intensify the search. Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI (M) State Secretary M V Govindan are scheduled to visit the disaster site today. The CPI(M) leaders will also visit people staying in relief camps and those undergoing treatment in hospitals after being injured in the landslide.

Meanwhile, the incident has triggered a political controversy over the Anakkampoyil–Kalladi–Meppadi tunnel road project.

The construction of the tunnel began only after obtaining all required clearances, including approval from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and scrutiny by the Supreme Court of India. New misleading campaigns are now being carried out under the guise of the Kalladi landslide with the aim of derailing the tunnel project.

Moreover, the Kerala government is failing to focus on coordinating rescue operations and is instead attempting to shift blame without fully recognising the seriousness of the disaster.

It was revealed earlier that authorities had directed the removal of accumulated soil at the project site as early as June 20, but the decision was not implemented. When the Public Works Department Special Secretary visited the site on June 25, instructions were reportedly issued not to remove the soil. The disaster was caused by the failure of both the construction company and the government to take timely precautionary measures, and now the UDF government of trying to avoid responsibility and politicise the issue.