Wayanad Disaster Not Normal, Says PM Modi After Visiting Deadly Landslide Area

Wayanad: The Wayanad disaster is not normal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday after visiting the Chooralmala area in Kerala where deadly landslides on July 30 killed over 400 people and injured hundreds of others.

“I have been taking information about the landslide since the time I got to know about the incident. All the agencies of the Central government who could have helped in the disaster were mobilised immediately. This disaster is not normal. The dreams of thousands of families have been shattered. I have seen the situation on the spot. I met the victims at relief camps who faced this disaster. I also met the injured patients in the hospital,” said Modi.

The Prime Minister, who was received at Kannur airport by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Governor Arif Muhammed Khan, first conducted an aerial survey of the affected area.

Modi was briefed by the CM, Governor and Union Minister Suresh Gopi on the magnitude of the disaster, with three massive back-to-back landslides shaking up the area early in the morning on July 30.

Modi trekked through Chooralmala, inspecting areas around Vellarmala Government Vocational Higher Secondary School which was reduced to rubble.

The PM also walked across the 190-foot long Bailey bridge, built urgently by the Army after the disaster, and interacted with Army personnel.

Modi later visited a relief camp at a school in Meppadi, where he spent nearly half an hour interacting with some of the survivors, including two children who lost all their family members in the landslide.

As the survivors broke down while narrating their ordeal to the Prime Minister, Modi tried to console them.

Modi also visited a private hospital in Meppadi, where he interacted with those undergoing treatment.