Fruitless search for the dead at Meppadi

Over 500 people involved in search operations

The search for the missing in the landslip at Puthumala, near Meppadi, in Wayanad on Friday went in vain. More than 500 people, including personnel of the NDRF, Fire and Rescue Services, and volunteer groups, are engaged in search operations for the past four days.

Of the 17 people feared buried in the debris of the landslip on August 8, bodies of 10 have been retrieved so far.

Operations with the assistance of sniffer dogs had to be discontinued as the dogs could not enter slushy sections, Wayanad subcollector N.S.K. Umesh said. The District Disaster Management Authority has deployed 13 earthmovers for the search operations. Tractors are used to remove logs.

Though personnel of the National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad agreed to visit the site and see the feasibility of using high-tech equipment such as ground-penetrating radar, they were yet to reach the spot, he said.

The Vadakara-based Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society has come up with a Geographic Information System-based map, designed to capture, store, analyse, manage, and present spatial or geographic data, of the area.

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