WAYANAD: As rescue operations in landslide-hit areas of Wayanad district continued for the sixth day on Sunday, authorities intensified efforts to recover bodies and also prepared a mass grave for unidentified remains, amid discussions in the state on donations to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund and whether to classify the natural calamity as a ‘national disaster’. The unofficial death toll remains over 350, while the number of missing persons has gone down to 180.On Sunday, more personnel and equipment were deployed in areas where the likelihood of finding bodies is high, and a drone-based Intelligent Buried Object Detection System was used to identify locations where bodies might be buried deep under huge boulders or logs.Stepping up the rescue operations, hundreds of personnel from various forces, including the NDRF, K-9 Dog Squad, Army, Special Operations Group, Madras Engineering Group, Police, Fire Force, Forest Department, Navy, and Coast Guard, were deployed in the disaster-struck areas.According to State Revenue Minister K Rajan, till date, 221 bodies and 166 body parts have been recovered. He said that the number of missing persons has gone down to 180 from the earlier 206 after authorities were able to get in touch with some of them over phone.Search operations also continued along the Chaliyar River, which flows through Wayanad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode. The river has become a haunting symbol of destruction after the bodies of those who died in the Wayanad landslides washed up on its banks.The total number of bodies found in the Chaliyar river is 75, and body parts are 142, making a grim total of 217, officials said.Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan lauded the valiant efforts of the police and the fire force in the rescue operations while addressing the passing-out parade of Kerala police today.
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