Three dead and five missing following landslide at construction site in Kerala.

Three people have died and another five are missing following a landslide at a construction site in Wayanad District, Kerala, at about 1.00 pm local time on Tuesday 7 July 2026. The three dead men have been identified as labourers Anmol Gorai from Jharkhand, Vikas Kumar Singh from Bihar and Chandrabhan Pal from Madhya Pradesh. The incident happened amid heavy rainfall associated with the summer monsoon, which appears to have triggered the collapse of a large pile of earth produced by the construction of a road tunnel intended to connect the town of Meppadi in Wayanad District to the village of Anakkampoyil in the neighbouring Kozhikode District. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall.

An ongoing rescue operation at the site of a landslide in Kerala State, India. Press Trust of India.

The landslide swept across the construction site, over a nearby road where it swept several vehicles away, then over a temporary labour camp for workers at the site, then a local church and house. All work at the site, other than searching for the missing persons, has stopped pending an investigation into the incident.

Managers at the site, which is being operated by Dilip Buildcon Limited, have claimed that the landslide started on land above the construction site, and was therefore not their fault. However, local authorities have observed that the company appears to have been in breach of at least two directives issued to by the Kerala Public Works Department, one of which was to remove the spoil heap, which was perceived as dangerously large, while the other was not to allow work on the site to be carried out on the site during heavy rainfall, due to the possibility of landslides.

CCTV footage of the landslide sweeping vehicles from a road. India Today.

The tunnel project was approved in 2020, and is intended to relieve pressure on the Thamarassery Ghat Road, which is prone to closures due to landslides during the monsoon season. However, from the outset it has been opposed by environmental groups in Kerala, who were worried that it would affect areas which form a key part of the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot, in particular forests used by wild Elephants, and that there was a danger of tunnelling activities making the hillsides more prone to landslides.

A bus swept into a ravine by the 7 July 2026 Wayanad landslide. Press Trust of India.

These concerns form part of a wider dispute between the Indian Government, which considers large infrastructure projects to be a vital part of its mission to raise millions of Indian citizens out of poverty, and environmentalists, who consider many of these projects to be poorly thought out, and not to take into account the special environmental needs of places such the Western Ghats, nor the current or projected future climate of the region. While such objections are often depicted by India's politicians as being anti-development sentiments which will condemn future generations to poverty, environmentalists worry that large projects which do not take into account the environment and climate risk failure, leaving the areas affected without any meaningful improvement to infrastructure and potentially significant environmental degradation, leaving local communities worse off than they are now.

Monsoons are tropical sea breezes triggered by heating of the land during the warmer part of the year (summer). Both the land and sea are warmed by the Sun, but the land has a lower ability to absorb heat, radiating it back so that the air above landmasses becomes significantly warmer than that over the sea, causing the air above the land to rise and drawing in water from over the sea; since this has also been warmed it carries a high evaporated water content, and brings with it heavy rainfall. In the tropical dry season the situation is reversed, as the air over the land cools more rapidly with the seasons, leading to warmer air over the sea, and thus breezes moving from the shore to the sea (where air is rising more rapidly) and a drying of the climate. 

Diagrammatic representation of wind and rainfall patterns in a tropical monsoon climate. Geosciences/University of Arizona.

Kerala has a complex seasonal cycle, driven by the presence of the Western Ghats mountain range, which largely block the dry northerly winds which dominate the climate of much of India, and its proximity to the equator, which leads to a double monsoon system. Such a double Monsoon Season is common close to the equator, where the Sun is highest overhead around the equinoxes and lowest on the horizons around the solstices, making the solstices the coolest part of the year and the equinoxes the hottest. In Kerala this results in a Southwest Monsoon, which lasts from May to September, and is driven by winds from the southern Arabian Sea dumping water onto the Western Ghats, followed by a Northwest Monsoon, which lasts from October to December, where winds from the Bay of Bengal do the same. Of the two monsoons, the southwest is the wetter, due to the proximity of the sea, with June typically being the wettest month, with an average of 341 mm of rain falling in the month.

See also...

Manis pentadactyla: The Chinese Pangolin confirmed to be living in Pakyong District, Sikkim.

Pangolins are solitary, nocturnal, and generally cryptic Mammals, found across Africa and Asia. They feed on Ants and Termites, and have a covering of scales, made from fused hairs, which are their main defence against predators, rolling into a ball with these forming the outer covering. There are eight recognised species of Pangolin, four in Africa and four in Asia, two of which are listed as Vulnerable under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, three as Endangered, and three as Critically Endangered. One of these Critically Endangered species is the Chinese Pangolin, Manis pentadactyla, which is found across parts of Nepal, Bhutan, northern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, and Taiwan. In India it is known to be present in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, and Assam, with occasional reports of its presence in Sikkim and West Bengal, although none of these have been confirmed.

In a paper published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa on 26 June 2026, Prashanti Pradhan of the Sikkim Alpine University, and the Assam Downtown University, Jampal Dorjee Bhutia, also of the Sikkim Alpine University, and Prem Kumar Chhetri and Bharat Kumar Pradhan of the Forest & Environment Department of the Government of Sikkim, document the first confirmed sighting of the Chinese Pangolin in Pakyong District, Sikkim, and provide photographic evidence to support this.

Pradhan et al.'s report is based upon a Pangolin which was found in Barapathing Village in Pakyong District on 31 March 2024. Barapathing Village is located at an altitude of between 1150 and 1700 m in an area where subtropical to temperate broad-leaved forests are being encroached upon by agricultural land and Human settlements, with anthropogenic pressures increasing due to the construction of the 717B National Highway, and associated infrastructure. 

The Pangolin was found by a local villager wandering within their backyard, and apparently lost and looking for food. The villager, who was unfamiliar with the species, attempted to drive the Pangolin away, though it was unperturbed by this, and apparently tolerant of Humans, potentially indicating that it had been living in a Human-dominated environment for some time. The Pangolin was eventually allowed to settle in a room, while the resident called the Barapathing Territorial Range Forest & Environment Department, who collected the Animal and relocated it to a subtropical forest downstream of the village.

Chinese Pangolin, Manis pentadactyla, inside the home of a villager in Barapathing, where it remained until the arrival of the rescue unit of the Barapathing Territorial Range Forest & Environment Department. Sangita Ruchal in Pradhan et al. (2026).

The rescued Animal was identified as a Chinese Pangolin, Manis pentodactyla, on the basis of its distinct morphological characteristics, such as overlapping keratinous scales, an elongated snout, and robust body form. The photographic evidence collected by Pradhan et al. constitutes evidence that this species is present in the Pakyong District of Sikkim. Local people were able to identify the Animal as a Pangolin using the Nepali word 'Saalak', but reported that they had never seen one so close to a Human habitation before.

The photographs and a description of the Animal were later sent to Vikram Aditya, the principal scientist at the Centre for Wildlife Studies in Bengaluru, Karnataka State, and a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Pangolin Specialist Group, who confirmed the diagnosis of this being a Chinese Pangolin.

The Chinese Pangolin after being rehabilitated into the forest. Prem Kumar Chettri in Pradhan et al. (2026).

Pangolins are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, driven by deforestation, forest fires, and road development, across their range. Sikkim has had one of the greatest expansions of its road network of any state in India during the last decade, with a major road upgrading project close to the village of Barapathing, which is likely to have contributed to both habitat destruction and a greater rate of Human encounters for Pangolins in the area. 

Animals can sometimes survive in altered landscapes by adapting their behaviour, however, this can lead them vulnerable to additional hazards, such as increased hunting. The hunting and trafficking of Pangolins is known to be a hazard for Pangolins in Sikkim, in 2021 a group of five people was arrested trying to smuggle a dead Pangolin from Sikkim into Bhutan, and when questioned they confessed the Animal had been killed in a wildlife sactuary in Sikkim. They also hinted at there being an international wildlife trafficking network operating across the eastern Himalayan region. 

Pradhan et al. suggest that there is an urgent need for a baseline ecological study on Chinese Pangolins in Sikkim, in order to better understand the threats linked to development-related habitat fragmentation, illegal hunting and transboundary trafficking, and to enable the development of a conservation plan for the species in the state, 

See also...

Three dead and two missing following flash flood in Arunachal Pradesh.

Three people have been confirmed dead and another two are missing following a flash flood in the Keyi Panyor District of Arunachal Pradesh State, India, on Wednesday 24 June 2026. A further 54 families have been displaced by the incident, in which waters from the Rangandani River Dam Lake over-topped a wall surrounding a residential camp for employees of the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation working on the Panyor Lower Hydroelectric Project (also known as the Rangandani Dam), following days of heavy rain associated with the Summer Monsoon. 

Damage caused by a flash flood which swept through a residential block for workers at a hydroelectric dam in Arunachal Pradesh, India, on 24 June 2026. ANI.

About thirty houses were destroyed at the dam workers colony, with another ten houses destroyed and fourteen damaged in related incidents in neighbouring communities, which have also been hit by flooding and landslide events caused by heavy rains in the area. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall. Several major roads in the area have also been damaged, and the heavy rains are making air transport difficult, hampering the efforts of rescue workers.

Arunchal Pradesh has a monsoon season that begins around the end of April or beginning of May and ends around September, bringing 2-4000 mm of rain to the region each year. In the twenty four hours prior to the incident, 74 mm of rainfall had fallen in the area, which is high, but should not have been sufficient to cause flooding at a camp with flood defences on a dam lake where the water level can be controlled to some extent by releasing water from the dam. This has led to speculation that an earlier incident, such as a landslide, may have temporarily blocked the flow of the river upstream of the dam lake, and that when this temporary blockage failed, a large amount of water surged downstream overcoming the colony's flood defences.

Monsoons are tropical sea breezes triggered by heating of the land during the warmer part of the year (summer). Both the land and sea are warmed by the Sun, but the land has a lower ability to absorb heat, radiating it back so that the air above landmasses becomes significantly warmer than that over the sea, causing the air above the land to rise and drawing in water from over the sea; since this has also been warmed it carries a high evaporated water content, and brings with it heavy rainfall. In the tropical dry season the situation is reversed, as the air over the land cools more rapidly with the seasons, leading to warmer air over the sea, and thus breezes moving from the shore to the sea (where air is rising more rapidly) and a drying of the climate. 

Diagrammatic representation of wind and rainfall patterns in a tropical monsoon climate. Geosciences/University of Arizona.

This situation is particularly intense in South Asia, due to the presence of the Himalayas. High mountain ranges tend to force winds hitting them upwards, which amplifies the South Asian Summer Monsoon, with higher winds leading to more upward air movement, thus drawing in further air from the sea. However, despite the incidents in Arunachal Pradesh this week, the Indian Monsoon is predicted to be be week this year, due to a developing el Niño system over the southern Pacific Ocean, leading to concerns that the country could suffer widespread droughts and famine this year.

The el Niño is the warm phase of a long-term climatic oscillation affecting the southern Pacific, which can influence the climate around the world. The onset of el Niño conditions is marked by a sharp rise in temperature and pressure over the southern Indian Ocean, which then moves eastward over the southern Pacific. This pulls rainfall with it, leading to higher rainfall over the Pacific and lower rainfall over South Asia. This reduced rainfall during the already hot and dry summer leads to soaring temperatures in southern Asia, followed by a rise in rainfall that often causes flooding in the Americas and sometimes Africa. Worryingly climatic predictions for the next century suggest that global warming could lead to more frequent and severe el Niño conditions, extreme weather conditions a common occurrence.

See also...

Woman killed by Elephant in Kerala State, India.

A woman has died after being trampled by an Elephant on Monday 8 June 2026 in the village of Sinkukandam near the town of Suryanelli in the Idukki District of Kerala State, India. The woman, identified as Mari, a 36-year-old widow, mother of two, and day-labourer, encountered a mother Elephant with a calf while escorting her 11-year-old son to catch a school bus, at about 8.30 am local time. Both were attacked by the Animal, and subsequently rushed to a local hospital by a passing auto-rickshaw driver. Here Mari was pronounced dead, while her son, Dakshan, was transferred to the Kottayam Government Medical College Hospital for further treatment.

The funeral of a woman killed by an Elephant in the Idukki District of Kerala State on 8 June 2026. The Hindu.

The village is close to the Chinnakanal Reserve, which is home to a population of 18 Elephants. About 50 people are thought to have been killed by Elephants in and around Chinnakanal since 1990, ten of them by a single male known as 'Arikomban' who was eventually relocated away from the area by the Kerala Forest Department in 2023. This has placed considerable strain on the local Human population, and their ability to live alongside the area's Elephants.  

The major problem appears to be that the Chinnakanal Reserve covers an area of about 4 km², although only about half of this is utilised by the Elephants, who instead spill out into nearby farms and villages, often stealing food from Humans and coming into conflict with them. In an attempt to manage this conflict the Forest Department has set up a system alerts on social media and messaging platforms, which message people warning them that Elephants are in their area. However, local people have complained that they are not simply able to simply stop going about their daily business whenever Elephants wander into the area. On the day of the latest incident an alert had been put out, but visibility was very low due to rains and fog, apparently causing the victims to come close to the Elephants without realising the danger they were in until too late.

In 2022 Raju Francis of the Kerala Forest Development Corporation produced a report recommending the construction of a series of solar-powered electric fences to protect farmland and residential areas from Elephants emerging from the forest. Despite agreeing to this proposal, four years on the Forest Department has yet to install a single stretch of fencing, and is unable to confirm when this will begin, something which local people have described as grossly negligent, leaving their property and families vulnerable to Elephant attacks.

A group of Asian Elephants in Kerala State. Wikimedia Commons.

Asian Elephants, Elephas maximus, are classified as Endangered under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, as the population has declined by more than 50% over the last three generations (about 75 years for Elephants). There are currently about 50 000 Asian Elephants (although Elephants are notoriously difficult to count, despite being such large Animals) scattered across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. However, this population is now highly fragmented, with most Elephants living in small groups, reproductively isolated from other groups, and often coming into conflict with local Human populations as the land allocated to Elephants shrinks.

See also...