IMD issues red alert as deadly landslides hit Kerala, Maharashtra, J&K and Arunachal

The Indian Meteorological Department have issued a red alert for Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, alongside a regional red alert for parts of Kerala. The expected spell of heavy rain is due to a well-marked low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal, which has intensified into a depression along with the highly active Southwest monsoon. Heavy rain has triggered a massive wave of landslides across India, from the Southwestern coastal state of Kerala, then in Maharashtra and Western Ghats and the North and North-Eastern part of the Himalayan belts of Jammu and Kashmir, and Arunachal.

Landslides in Kerala

A massive landslide was triggered near Meenakshi Bridge at Kalladi, close to the site of the ongoing Anakkompoyil-Meppadi tunnel connecting Malappuram and Wayanad districts. Tons of excavated mud swamped the tunnel, at least 3 workers have been killed, 7 remain missing, and 9 have been rescued. Kerala Minister of Agriculture T Siddique has called it a “man-made disaster” due to the unscientific stacking of excavated earth at the construction site.

Landslide in Maharashtra

In Maharashtra, several landslides were witnessed. At least five houses were buried after a portion of a hill collapsed in Patan village of Maval tehsil. Another slide near a hotel in Khandala claimed the life of a security guard. The incident also disrupted traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the old Mumbai-Pune Highway. A major landslide near Tunnel 2 of the newly opened Mumbai-Pune Expressway's ‘missing link’ exposed surface defects on the state-of-the-art engineering marvel, explicitly marketed by the Maharashtra Government, for its ability to withstand severe weather. In Ratnagiri’s Khed tehsil, a landslide buried five houses and trapped residents inside, while a severe landslide at Parshuram Ghat partially blocked the Mumbai-Goa Highway.

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Landslides in North and Northeastern India

Landslides and flash floods struck Jammu and Kashmir, damaging the Doda-Kishtwar highway and disrupting vehicular movement in the region. Large stones, mud and debris were carried along with the floodwaters into residential areas, reaching people's homes and causing further damage. The landslide added to the disruption in the tunnel area of the under-construction 540 MW Kwar Hydroelectric Power Project. In Arunachal Pradesh, heavy rain triggered a landslide along the Siji River in Lower Siang, and in Nagaland, a landslide blocked the NH2 link road between Nagaland and Manipur.