Wayanad landslide: Were warnings about work at Kerala's twin tunnel project ignored?

Today (July 7), a massive landslide came crashing down the Anakkampoyil-Kalladi-Meppadi twin-tunnel project in Wayanad in the Meenakshi area of Kerala’s Wayanad district.

The incident has left three dead as of now, while seven workers involved in the under-construction Wayanad twin tunnel project remain missing, according to an India Express report. Official sources say Wayanad has been facing torrential rain since Monday morning (July 6).

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team has rushed to the spot as several construction workers and labourers are feared to be trapped beneath the mud and debris.

The Wayanad Tunnel Project, a flagship infrastructure initiative, is currently under construction in Kerala. It is being managed by the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL).

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Once completed, it will become Kerala's longest road tunnel and the third-longest in India, News18 reported. Inaugurated last year in August, the project received the Supreme Court's nod in April 2023.

We take a look.

What happened?

After 24 hours of torrential rain, a massive mudslide hit the Kalladi site near Meppadi, Kerala. A concrete wall built to strengthen the hillside collapsed, trapping workers, vehicles and heavy machinery under mud and rubble, leaving several labourers caught in the slide.

Watch the visuals here:

Locals, along with emergency responders, rescued at least five workers alive from the debris and rushed them to a nearby hospital for treatment. Many workers and heavy machinery operators are still feared trapped beneath the collapsed retaining wall and thick mud.

Rescue operations are underway, with teams from the NDRF and Fire and Rescue Services, and local police working to locate those missing. Following a notice, operations at the tunnel were suspended due to monsoon risks.

Were the warnings from the district collector ignored?

On June 20, Meghashree D R, the district collector of Wayanad, wrote a letter stating that construction on the Wayanad twin tunnel project should be temporarily halted. Meghashree noted that "until the soil accumulated post-tunnelling is removed from the area," the work should be stopped.

Sunny Joseph, Kerala's Minister for Environment and Climate Change, echoed the district collector's view. "It is this soil which caved in, resulting in Tuesday’s landslide," Joseph told Indian Express.

“The district collector had given standing instructions to remove the soil that was accumulating at the site. The order was not considered, and the construction company went ahead with the tunnelling work,” he added.

According to Joseph, this is a "manmade disaster" as the warning was ignored. "We are seriously looking into the lapses that put lives in danger.”

Listen in:

“Unscientific dumping of loose soil at the project site has led to the tragedy. This is not a natural disaster but a manmade one. Earlier, the government had given clear instructions to Konkan Railway Corporation to ensure all safety measures and stop the construction work during heavy rains," Kerala’s Agriculture Minister T Siddique also called it a "manmade" disaster while speaking to the media.

About the Wayanad twin tunnel project

The key project aims to provide all-weather connectivity to Wayanad, which, according to reports, has only four ghat roads connecting it to the rest of Kerala. The Rs 2,134-crore project is expected to significantly improve connectivity while boosting travel, tourism and commercial activity across north Kerala.

The total project length is 8.73 km, and the tunnel segment is an 8.1-km twin-tube, four-lane underground passage. In Wayanad, the tunnel will begin at Kalladi. The project also comprises two major bridges and three smaller bridges.

The project will reduce the distance between Anakkampoyil and Meppadi from 42 km to less than 20 km. It is also expected to cut travel time between Kozhikode and Wayanad by 45 to 60 minutes.

Beyond improving local connectivity, the tunnel will significantly reduce transit times from central Kerala to Bengaluru and Tamil Nadu.

Konkan Railway Corporation is the implementing agency for the project. According to News18, the project's primary contractor is Dilip Buildcon Limited and it is slated for completion by around 2030.

With inputs from agencies