India, July 7 -- A major landslide hit Kerala's Wayanad district on Tuesday. As resue operations continue in the region to search for missing people, state agriculture minister T Siddique has stated that the incident could have been prevented, calling the landslide a "man-made" one.

The minister's statement has raised concerns about the ecological impact of large infrastructure projects in the Western Ghats.

While rescue operations are underway and authorities have yet to determine the exact cause of the landslide, Minister Siddique has alleged that "unscientific dumping" of excavated soil and mud from tunnel construction caused the disaster.

Speaking after the landslide, the minister blamed the handling of excavation waste at the tunn...