Kozhikode (Kerala): The death toll in the Wayanad landslides climbed to 414. Over 150 people are still missing and the draft list of 138 missing persons has been released. The list was prepared under the supervision of the District Collector as per the instructions of the Cabinet Sub-Committee, officials said on Wednesday.
They said 224 dead bodies and 189 body parts were recovered after the disaster. The list includes 138 people directly affected by the landslides and permanent residents of the affected areas who went missing after the disaster. Documents such as ration cards and voter lists in the disaster-affected areas were checked, officials added.
District Collector D.R. Meghashree said, "If anyone got any information regarding those involved in the missing list they should pass the information to the district administration immediately."
The missing persons list was prepared after collating with the official records held by Gram Panchayat, ICDS, District Education Office, Labour Office, District Disaster Management Authority, etc. A list of missing persons was prepared after removing the names of those who are currently in camps, relatives' houses, hospitals, etc., and those whose deaths have been confirmed from the voters' list and ration cards, officials added.
Name, ration card number, address, name of next of kin, relationship with addressee, phone number, and photographs of the missing persons are included in the draft list. This is the first draft list to trace those missing in the disaster. The public can check this draft list and inform the district administration if they have any information about the people mentioned in it, they said.
"Based on the information obtained in this way, we will try to find people. Their names will be removed from the list as soon as information is received. It is decided to modify the list by adding their names after necessary verifications if any person who is not included in the current list is reported missing. This list will be refined through continuous monitoring and the final list of missing persons will be released," said DR Meghasree.
The draft list will be available on the official website https://wayanad.gov.in/ of the district administration, on the social media accounts of the district collector etc. and on the notice boards of the collectorate etc. The list of missing persons was prepared under the leadership of Assistant Collector Gautam Raj.
The public can give information on the phone number 8078409770 to update the list of missing persons in the Churalmala and Mundakkai landslide disaster. The district cyber police are also on the scene to assist in information collection.
The draft missing list includes four persons from Bihar and one from Odisha. Dr Swadheen Panda is the Odisha native in the list.
Sadhu Paswan and Viginesh Paswan from Rampur Chaklala, Jandhaha, Bihar, Renjith Kumar from Bagwanpur, Vaishali, and Vijaneshiya Paswan are the four Bihar natives marked as missing on the list.
