Central disaster management study team visits landslide-hit Vilangad in Kerala

Kozhikode: A study team of Central disaster management experts has visited the landslide-hit areas of Vilangad in northern Kozhikode district of Kerala and took stock of the destructions there.

The high-range hamlet of Vilangad had suffered widespread destruction in a landslide on July 30, the same day when the disaster devastated the villages of neighbouring Wayanad.

The expert team, comprising R Pradeep Kumar, director, of Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) in Roorkee, CBRI scientists D P Kanungo and Ajay Chourasia, State Disaster Management Authority member secretary Sekhar Kuriakose and other officials, visited the affected areas in Vilangad on Saturday, district authorities here said.

They mainly visited places like Vayad, Panniyeri, Malayangadu and Vilangad town where widespread destructions were reported.

Panchayat and revenue officials also accompanied the Central team during the visit, an official statement added.

In a recent all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, a decision was taken to carry out rehabilitation for the victims of the landslides in Vilangad along with the survivors of Wayanad.

Over 200 people died in the landslides that hit the Mundakkai and Chooralmala areas of Wayanad on July 30.