Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met the victims of landslides at a relief camp in Kerala’s Wayanad.
Earlier today, the prime minister conducted an aerial survey of the district to gauge the destruction caused by the landslides that killed over 400 people.
The prime minister was accompanied by Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Minister of State for Tourism and Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi.
Meanwhile, government sources have said that the Centre took immediate measures following the landslide tragedy in Wayanad as it deployed more than 1,200 personnel from NDRF, Army, Air Force, Navy, fire services and civil defence among others for rescue and relief operations at the incident site.
The Indian Army, the sources said, erected a 190-foot Bailey bridge in Wayanad which was crucial in facilitating the movement of heavy machinery and ambulances.
The bridge was completed in 71 hours, significantly enhancing rescue operations by allowing heavy vehicles and machinery to be mobilised to rescue around 200 people who were stranded due to damage to a bridge.
Till now, 30 people have been rescued and 520 evacuated, and 112 bodies recovered by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescue teams, they said.
The sources added that an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) has been constituted by the central government to visit the affected areas.
With inputs from PTI
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