Kerala Orders Two Probes Into Wayanad Tunnel Landslide

The Kerala government has ordered two separate investigations into the Wayanad tunnel project accident following a cabinet meeting, PTI reported. Chief Minister V D Satheesan said the state will examine technical reports to determine the circumstances of the incident.

The landslide killed three migrant workers and left five others missing. Authorities identified the deceased as Chandraban, an operator from Madhya Pradesh; Bikash Kumar, a civil foreman from Bihar; and Anmol, a worker from Jharkhand.

Seven injured persons were undergoing treatment at the Meppadi WIMS Hospital as of Tuesday night.

The government will assist the next of kin of the deceased with Rs 5 lakh. The state will also pay to treat the injured while also taking steps to send the bodies back to their respective home states.

Work on the tunnel connecting Wayanad with Kozhikode will restart only after all related investigations are completed, Satheesan said.

Compliance and Blame

The investigation will examine whether the executing company complied with the environmental clearance conditions granted by the central government.

The state government previously stated the incident was a "man-made disaster" saying that mud accumulated at the construction site was not removed despite clear directions from the district administration and Public Works Department Minister P K Basheer. 

Prior to the July 2026 landslide, the Wayanad district administration and District Disaster Management Authority issued a formal directive to the construction company to clear the accumulated mud and soil on June 20, 2026, a report by The Hindu said. Basheer issued directives to remove the accumulated earth following a review meeting on June 12, 2026 and subsequently reiterated these instructions during a second review meeting on July 1, 2026.

"We have decided to evaluate the reports on the disaster and take technical and legal steps to investigate the circumstances that led to the accident," Satheesan said.

The general manager of the construction company refuted the allegation arguing that the landslide occurred much above the worksite.

Satheesan recalled being mocked by the CPI(M) as "opposed to development" when he had previously urged for a serious environmental impact study. He said an earlier study conducted by the previous LDF government also advised against implementing the project in the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats.

Project Mandates and Warnings

Dilip Buildcon Limited is executing the Wayanad-Kozhikode twin-tunnel project with the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) is acting as the implementing agency.

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change granted Stage-II Forest Clearance on February 24, 2026 mandating 24 conditions for diverting 17.263 hectares of forest land.

These mandates required clear demarcation of the forest land, executing compensatory afforestation on an equivalent extent of non-forest land in Wayanad, planting at least 1,000 saplings per hectare within two years and limiting tree felling to a maximum of 124 trees.

A 2023 Environmental Impact Assessment report by KRCL and KITCO admitted the alignment is highly prone to frequent landslides on mountain slopes, especially during the monsoon, the Hindustan Times said in a report.