Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out an aerial survey on Saturday of disaster-hit areas of Chooralmala, Mundakkai, and Punchirimattam hamlets aboard an Indian Air Force helicopter. In the aerial survey, he saw the origin of the landslide, which is in the origin of Iruvazhinji Puzha (River). He also visited the landslide-hit areas of Wayanad district and walked through the disaster-stricken Chooralmala to get a firsthand view of the destruction caused by the July 30 landslides that have claimed over 300 lives. IN PICS
Addressing the media, PM Modi said, "I have been taking information about the landslide since the time I got to know about the incident. All the agencies of the Central Govt who could have helped in the disaster were mobilised immediately. This disaster is not normal. The dreams of thousands of families have been shattered. I have seen the situation on the spot. I met the victims at relief camps who faced this disaster. I also met the injured patients in the hospital..."
The PM also visited one of the relief camps, which is home to many of those displaced in the massive landslides, and interacted with some of the survivors, including two children who lost their loved ones in the disaster that has claimed over 200 lives. Modi arrived in the hill district by helicopter from Kannur airport.
Later, the Prime Minister visited the camp at Meppadi around 2.30 pm and spent nearly half an hour there, interacting with some of the survivors. He spoke to them, heard their concerns and needs, and tried to comfort them, reports said.
He landed at the SKMJ Higher Secondary School in Kalpetta and then travelled by road to Chooralmala, where a 190-foot-long Bailey bridge had been built by the army after the disaster. The PM walked on the bridge, while surveying the damage.
After reaching Chooralmala, Modi got down from his vehicle, interacted with rescue personnel, state chief secretary V Venu and district officials, and surveyed the area--strewn with boulders and debris-- on foot.
