Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan has ordered an inquiry into the allegation that there was delay on the part of Kanan Devan Hills Plantation (KDHP) Ltd. in informing the authorities on the Pettimudy landslip on August 7.
District Collector H. Dinesan had constituted a 12-member team to assess the landslip damage and recommend the rehabilitation of the survivors. In the report submitted by the team, it was suggested that an inquiry was needed to ascertain whether there was delay in passing the information of the tragedy to the authorities.
The landslip, which claimed 66 lives (four are still missing), occurred at 10.30 p.m. The officials came to know of it only in the morning. Four estate lanes of workers at the Nayamakkad division in the Eravikulam National Park were buried in the landslip.
‘Facility at bungalow’
It was alleged that there was a facility at the estate bungalow in Rajamala to transmit the message, though the road was flooded and other communication systems were snapped.
Mr. Chandrasekharan told The Hindu on Saturday that an inquiry under the purview of the Disaster Management Act would be conducted by a new team, he added.
The Minister handed over the report to Disaster Management Commissioner A. Kowsigen for the inquiry. A thorough inquiry would help the State Disaster Management Authority prepare better in the event of Pettimudy-model disaster in future, he said.
‘Within an hour’
The 36-page report said the revenue team members were told that a company official (field officer) was informed of the landslip within an hour. The Rajamala manager’s bungalow within the jurisdiction of the KDHP has a system in place to report such incidents to the outside world. Pettimudy area under Devikulam taluk was isolated in the first week of August due to extremely heavy rainfall. From August 2, the power connection was disrupted.
Due to the absence of a battery or inverter system in the mobile tower, the mobile network was disrupted after the power connection snapped, said the report. The delay in passing the message resulted in the delayed rescue operations, the report said.