The very heavy rainfall (570 mm or 22.4 inches in two days) this end July triggered landslides in the Wayanad district of Kerala resulting in considerable loss of lives and damage to property. Innumerable individuals were injured, more than 130 were reported missing and over 10,000 were displaced.
The affected area includes the villages of Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Chooramala, Attamala, Meppadi and Kunhome, comprising farms built on steep slopes. Most of the victims were workers on tea and cardamom estates in the region who were asleep in their makeshift tents when the landslides occurred. The Indian Spacecraft Research Organisation suggests that the......