By K M Roy

Even as the death has gone beyond 275 in Wayanad landslide tragedy, leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi today visited the disaster site and interacted with families of the victims.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters that nearly 250 people are missing and feared that death toll may rise further. The CM said 45 relief camps have been established to provide shelter to more than 3,000 people.

Officials said the Army has constructed a bailey bridge at Mundakkai to assist the rescue efforts.

Rahul and Priyanka met the families of the victims and promised all help.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her deep sorrow over the incident and said she will send two MPs to help in the rescue efforts.

In a post on X, she said, “We are greatly disturbed by the news of the Wayanad landslides in Kerala. It is really a grave disaster. On humanitarian grounds, we are sending a team of two of our MPs, Saket Gokhale & Sushmita Dev, to visit the affected site.

In another development, IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra Thursday said the India Meteorological Department had issued regular forecasts for significant rainfall activity along the west coast of India and a red alert for Kerala in the early morning of July 30.

This is significant as Union Home Minister Amit Shah had accused Kerala government of paying not heed to the Centre’s warning regarding a possible natural calamity in Wayanad due to heavy rains.