Kerala orders to declare 32 missing in Wayanad as dead

The Kerala government has ordered that the 32 people still missing in Wayanad be declared dead, five months after the multiple landslides flattened two villages on July 30, setting in motion the process of disbursal of ex gratia to the families of the deceased.

- Vishnu Varma

KOCHI:

The order, issued by the state disaster management authority on January 13, came after detailed forensic examinations of the hundreds of body parts retrieved from the site, conducted at the Government Forensic Science Lab (FSL) in Kannur, did not return matches for the missing.

"We have issued guidelines to ensure that families of those who went missing get permanent death certificates to enable them to seek ex-gratia relief. After completing all the necessary procedures, the sub-collector, who is the sub-judicial magistrate, will publish the list of missing in newspapers and government websites to seek objections," state revenue minister K Rajan said.

He further said: "If no objections are received within the time-frame, the sub-collector can certify the missing as deceased. The office of registrar of birth and death can then issue the necessary death certificates."

"The list of missing now holds 32 names. The government hopes that by January itself, after all necessary procedures are completed, the next of kin of such persons are granted the financial compensation," he said.