"We Haven't Even Reached...": Kerala Governor's Grim Warning On Wayanad

Amid the blame game between Centre and Kerala, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said, "If the Home Minister is saying warnings were issued, I have no reason to doubt it."

The extent of devastation caused by landslides in Kerala's Wayanad is not known yet, as rescue teams have not even reached the settlement first struck by the landslides, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan told NDTV as the death count in the calamity crossed the 200 mark.

The Governor said that the bodies recovered so far are mostly from a village that was devastated because the Chaliyar river changed its course. "The river changed its course because of the landslides and ravaged a village. These bodies have been recovered from that village. But we have not been able to reach the first village which has been ravaged by the landslide," he said.

This village, the Governor said, has been cut off after a bridge leading to it was washed away. "The Army engineering unit is trying to build a Bailey bridge (a portable bridge) and this may be completed within a few hours," he said, adding that it is not possible to properly assess the scale of damage till the bridge is built. "It is not possible because we have not been able to reach the first site affected by the landslide," he said.

The Governor stressed that the village struck first by the landslide is "not a remote village". "It is in a hilly area, but it is not remote. It is part of a town area. It is a 100-year-old settlement."