India, July 8 -- The July 7, 2026, landslide at Kalladi near Meppadi in Kerala's Wayanad district was a disaster waiting to happen, according to experts.

Their remarks came even as rescue operations are on at the site of the disaster which claimed three lives, with five people being reported missing.

Geo-scientist C P Rajendran, adjunct professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, observed after the disaster that the project had received clearance without detailed geological and hydrological investigations appropriate for such fragile terrain. Tunnelling, he noted, alters stress distribution within hill slopes, creates fractures and can trigger slope failures during episodes of extreme rainfall. He argued that cha...