Most of landslide-hit Chooralmala in Wayanad is safe now: Scientist
Wayanad district is safe for habitation, but it would be better to avoid living in Punchirimattom, the epicentre of the landslides, in the long run, according to the scientist leading the five-member team that inspected the region devastated by the landslides on July 30.
Senior scientist John Matthai of the National Centre for Geosciences said that his team will demarcate the areas that are safe and unsafe for habitation in their report to the government.
«Most of Chooralmala is safe,» he said, adding that «in the long term it would be safer to avoid living in areas close to the river at Punchirimattom».
Major landslides hit the Mundakkai and Chooralmala regions in Meppadi panchayat of Wayanad on July 30 almost decimating both the areas. The five-member team, which was tasked by the State Disaster Management Authority with inspecting the landslide-hit areas in Wayanad's Meppadi panchayat, has carried out a detailed inspection of the epicentre of the landslide — Punchirimattom — and the adjoining areas, and collected soil and rock samples.
After the day's inspections, Mathai, while speaking to reporters, explained how the landslides caused such devastation. He said that if it were just water, then the same would have flown through the river channel already there.
But in the instant case, a huge amount of water collected at the epicentre of the landslides and pushed downwards with immense energy, bringing with it huge boulders and logs of uprooted trees.
«It was a snowballing effect, where rocks from the top
