The death toll in the Wayanad tunnel road landslide has reached seven, with one more body found on Friday. The Kerala High Court has instructed the state government to promptly provide ex gratia compensation to the victims’ families, offer free treatment to the injured, and ensure swift handover of the deceased to their relatives. One person is still missing, and rescue operations are ongoing near Meenakshi Bridge at Kalladi.
A Division Bench of Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice A.K.Preeta emphasized the priority of relief measures over liability concerns during the hearing. The court stressed the importance of quickly releasing the bodies to the families for proper last rites and instructed that all medical expenses for the injured be covered by the state government. The court also directed immediate disbursement of compensation to the affected families and requested a status report from the state government by next week.
The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority reported that rescue efforts are underway using heavy machinery and manual search operations due to challenging terrain conditions. The court was informed that construction work at the project site had been halted in May. The High Court has pledged to monitor the situation closely on a weekly basis, focusing on timely compensation payments and rehabilitation efforts.
The court’s intervention stems from its ongoing suo motu proceedings following the 2024 Wayanad landslides, expanding its oversight to the recent tunnel project tragedy. The state government has initiated a comprehensive investigation into the project, while the Kerala High Court is closely overseeing relief operations and the disaster investigation.
