The multi-agency rescue operation at the landslide-ravaged Gidipabali village has been temporarily suspended for Wednesday due to adverse weather conditions, even as the Kandhamal district administration has vowed to make a final concerted effort to locate the missing residents.
Speaking to the media, Kandhamal Collector Vedabhushan, IAS, said the decision to halt operations was taken purely on safety grounds. “This is not the final decision. We will make every possible last effort to trace the missing persons. If the weather improves, rescue work may resume from Thursday,” he stated.
According to the Collector, three successive landslides struck the hilltop hamlet in a single night. Experts now estimate that the remaining bodies are buried more than 30 feet deep. Current equipment cannot effectively probe beyond this depth, and further controlled blasting carries the high risk of triggering fresh slides that could endanger both the missing persons and the rescue teams.
Two bodies recovered earlier—identified as those of 29-year-old Sanman (Salman) Pradhan and 52-year-old Rabi Mallick—were found in the upper layers of the debris and still took three days of painstaking work to extract. Subsequent blasting over the past two days has yielded no significant results.
The Collector added that the families of the missing have gradually accepted the grim reality and have expressed agreement with the administration’s cautious approach. There is a provisional proposal to conduct collective last rites at a location near the village, and villagers have also suggested building a memorial at the site. A joint meeting of the Kandhamal and Ganjam district administrations today decided that a final decision on these matters will be taken after further consultation, keeping the mental state of the families in mind.
Future rescue efforts will no longer involve the Railways team. An earlier plan to air-drop personnel and equipment by helicopter was also ruled out by experts because of the extremely difficult terrain and lack of a suitable landing zone.
“Next steps will be taken as per the collective decision of the state government, both district administrations, and the local residents,” Collector Vedabhushan said at a press briefing tonight. “We are handling the situation with sensitivity towards the families.”
The Gidipabali landslide, triggered by heavy rainfall associated with Cyclone Arnab late last month, virtually wiped out the remote hamlet of nine families on the Ganjam-Kandhamal border. While some residents managed to escape, more than ten people remain unaccounted for despite days of intensive search involving NDRF, ODRAF, Fire Services, and other specialised units.
