Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi said that of the Rs six lakh, Rs four lakh would come from the State Disaster Relief Fund and the remaining from the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF).

The court sought a report that contains the various studies related to the landslides-hit region until 2022.

This is not the first disaster to strike the region. In 2019, a major landslide in Puthumala, just a few kilometres away, claimed 17 lives, damaged property, and rendered the land largely uncultivable.

While the exact number of fatalities remains unconfirmed pending ongoing search and rescue operations, the minister stated that retrieving bodies and restoring connectivity in the affected regions are currently the government’s top priorities.