Bhubaneswar/Phulbani: The multi-agency search and rescue operation at landslide-ravaged Gidipabali village in south Odisha was halted Wednesday due to inclement weather, as families of 10 missing persons prepared to perform their final rituals, a senior official said.
The decision to temporarily suspend the operation was taken after experts assessed that the remains, if any, could be buried under nearly 30 feet of debris, Kandhamal District Collector Vedbhusan said.
He, along with Ganjam District Collector V Keerthi Vasan, met the victims’ family members at a shelter camp and discussed the situation at the site where the search and rescue operation was underway.
The state government had launched the search and rescue operation Friday following the landslide triggered by heavy rains brought by Cyclone Arnab last week.
“According to experts, there is at least 30 feet of debris, which is difficult to remove due to at least three successive landslides in the area. Further blasting is likely to trigger fresh landslides and may also endanger the lives of rescue personnel. Therefore, with the consent of the family members, the rescue operation was halted on Wednesday,” Kandhamal Collector Vedbhusan told reporters.
He said the families, understanding the difficult circumstances and challenges involved, had requested the administration to help them perform the final rituals, find closure and move on.
“The administration has assured the families of all possible assistance to help them restart their lives. However, we want to make one more final attempt to ensure closure for everyone,” the collector said.
“Although operations have been temporarily halted Wednesday due to the weather, we will make another round of efforts as soon as the weather remains clear for a couple of days before closing the operation, as per the wishes of the families,” he added.
The official said the state government had mobilised multiple agencies and deployed all possible resources, including life-detection equipment, dog squads, experts from IIT, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Railway teams and controlled blasting, for the rescue operation.
However, no significant breakthrough was achieved as the houses affected by the landslide are believed to be buried under nearly 30 feet of debris following successive landslides.
Of the 26 residents of Gidipabali, a hilltop village on the Kandhamal-Ganjam district border, 13 managed to escape the landslide on the night of October 29 and were shifted to a shelter in Udayagiri.
The search operation was launched for the remaining 13 residents.
One person was rescued alive, while 12 others were initially reported missing. Two bodies were subsequently recovered and identified as those of 29-year-old Salman Pradhan and 52-year-old Rabi Mallick.
Officials said the two bodies were found in the upper layers of debris, but it took rescue teams three days of painstaking efforts to retrieve them. Controlled blasting over the past two days had yielded no significant results, they said.
The collector said the rescue operation was particularly challenging as personnel could not remain at the site after sunset due to the lack of basic facilities.
“There is no proper road to transport the machinery required to remove the huge rocks that fell on the houses during the landslide. Therefore, we carried out controlled blasting to break the rocks and later used ground-penetrating radar (GPR). But that was also not possible as the area is covered by nearly 30 feet of rock and soil,” he said.
The collector said the only way to transport the equipment required for the operation to the site was through airdropping.
He said further rescue efforts would be decided after consultations with experts, the state government and the affected families.
