The Kerala government has ordered eight police stations abutting the Chaliyar river in Malappuram district to muster teams of local scouts and divers to recover the bodies of Wayanad landslide victims washed downstream by the swollen Iruvanjipuzha river abutting the disaster zone.

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Until August 1, rescue workers and local volunteers had retrieved 58 bodies and 95 body parts swept into the Chaliyar river after multiple landslides levelled Mundakkai, Attamala, and Chooralmala settlements in Wayanad early on July 30.

The massive earthfall bulldozed the villages and swept them into the Iruvanjipuzha, which joins the Chaliyar several kilometres downstream.

The sludge and debris from the landslides bifurcated the Iruvanjipuzha river into two separate streams. They destroyed the key bridge linking Chooramala to Mundakkai, one of the worst-hit localities.

Revenue Minister K. Rajan, who heads the Cabinet subcommittee monitoring search and rescue operations in Wayanad, said Navy and Coast Guard helicopters had helped locate at least 12 bodies that floated someway downstream from the disaster zone.

He said more could have washed up on the shores of the Chaliyar. Forest department officials, Navy and Coast Guard personnel, and local guides are set to join the search for bodies on August 2. 

The teams will scour the banks on foot. The Chaliyar follows a winding course, and local people found scores of bodies washed up on the shores where the river bends. 

Mr. Rajan did not rule out the possibility of more bodies remaining entangled in reeds, uprooted trees and boulders. 

40 squads in action

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that 40 squads comprising Central and State forces, volunteer rescue teams and local guides have fanned across the disaster zone in Wayanad. 

Indian Army constructs 190-ft Bailey bridge in Wayanad

The Army installed a Bailey bridge on August 1 to transport rescue workers, heavy earth-moving equipment, and ambulances to Mundakkai on August 2.

The groups are equipped with GPS maps pinpointing the locations of houses in the disaster zone. The 20-member squads also carried body bags, cutting machines, and stretchers.

Army and police dog squads are assisting in the search. The dog squad handlers had marked 15 points that might hold buried bodies.

The government has requisitioned several classrooms in a local school to set up a temporary morgue powered by diesel generators. It has also requisitioned more ground-penetrating radars, including a few drones k

Drones kitted out with such detection equipment. The Tamil Nadu government has dispatched a police dog squad from Chennai to assist the rescue operations in Wayanad. 

The incident commander has divided the disaster-struck area into six zones. The government has commandeered 50 ambulances to transport recovered bodies and also scores of mobile morgue freezers to store them. 

Mr. Rajan and other Cabinet subcommittee members, Public Works Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas, Forest Minister A. K. Saseendran, and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Welfare Minister O.R. Kelu, were overseeing Friday’s operations.