Army, NDRF teams retrieve 3 bodies

MADIKERI: Rescuers on Wednesday retrieved three bodies — two from Meghathalu and one from Katakeri in Madikeri taluk — taking the death toll in Kodagu to 15. Unconfirmed reports suggest two more bodies have been retrieved. Authorities fear scores of people who had gone missing while attempting to escape floods and landslides are perhaps dead.

The three bodies retrieved on Wednesday were found trapped in a landslide that occurred eight days ago. They have been identified as Pavan (37) — retrieved from Katakeri village by an NDRF team — and Chandravathi (61) and her son Umesh Rai (36) — retrieved by a team of Army men.

Pavan is survived by wife Umavathi and five-year-old daughter Dhanya. The couple worked as labourers on coffee estates. Umavathi and Dhanya have now been rendered homeless too since the house they were staying in has been declared unsafe. About 60 families in their area have left the village and have moved into either relief centres or relatives’ homes.

The rescue teams had a hard time getting to the area since they had to get past fields and estates filled with slush and landslides blocking roads. The team also had to use improvised rope bridges to get across streams.

Pavan is believed to have escaped a landslide at Katakeri at 3am on August 16, but then went back at 6am to assess the damage when another landslide occurred.

“Yashwanth, Yatish, Naveen, Manohar, Venkatramana and Pavan — all residents of three houses in this landslide-prone area went back to the spot at 6am on August 16 to check the damage to their houses,” said Huderi Rajesh, a member of Katakeri village panchayat. “Yatish, Naveen and Manohar escaped, but were seriously injured and are being treated in a hospital in Mysuru. But Yashwanth, Venkatramana and Pavan perished.”

The bodies of Yashwanth and Venkatramana were retrieved the same day, while Pavan was declared missing by the district administration as the team could not find his dead body.

Chandravathi and her son Umesh were found buried almost two kilometres from their home in Meghathalu village. Their house was buried under a landslide. Umesh was an auto driver.