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Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) on Monday donated rupees 1 crore to the Kerala Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund for relief and rehabilitation activities going on following the massive landslide that recently hit Wayanad.
VIT Founder and Chancellor Dr G. Viswanathan handed over the demand draft for Rs. one crore to Kerala Chief Minister Mr Pinarayi Vijayan at the State Secretariat on Monday, August 5. VIT Vice-Presidents Mr Sankar Viswanathan, Dr G.V. Selvam and Assistant Vice-President Ms Kadhambari S. Viswanathan accompanied the Chancellor. Earlier, the Wayanad district administration organised a mass burial ceremony on Monday in which the body parts of unidentified victims killed in the disaster were buried in the Puthumala region of the district. A prayer for all religions was also conducted before the burial ceremony. The event started at around 3 pm. Speaking with ANI on the missing bodies and body parts of the landslide victims, Kerala Minister K N Balagopal said, "We cannot give an exact number of missing body parts... There is a mass burial going on for unidentified bodies." Puthumala is a village close to Chooralmala. In 2019, Puthumala also witnessed a landslide. Meanwhile, rescue and relief operations in landslide-hit areas of Kerala's Wayanad entered their seventh consecutive day on Monday. As per the State Health Ministry, the death toll stands at 308 as of August 2. 220 bodies have been recovered and 180 people are still missing as of Sunday.A total of 53 camps have been set up in Wayanad as part of the relief operations. As per the latest update, 6759 people were shifted to these camps across the district, including 1983 families, 2501 males, 2677 females, 1581 children, and 20 pregnant women. The government has set up 16 camps in Meppadi and other Gram panchayats; this includes 9 shelters and 7 rescue camps. A total of 2514 people have been shifted to these shelters, as per the latest data. This included 723 families, 943 males, 972 females, 599 children, and six pregnant women. Additionally, there are rescue camps at SDMLP school, D-Paul public school at Kalpetta, RCLP school at Chundel, GHS school near Rippon, WMO college at Muttil, Rippon new building, and Arappatta. The massive landslides hit Chooralmala and Mundakkai in Wayanad on July 30, wreaking mass devastation and causing the loss of lives and property. Late on Sunday night, the district administration carried out the mass burial of the mortal remains of the unidentified people killed in the landslides. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier directed the district administration to carry out the formalities with interfaith prayers. (ANI)
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