Hundreds are believed to be trapped under rubble after an extensive landslide struck the tea plantations in the upcountry region, on Wednesday morning.

Ten bodies have been pulled from the rubble so far, whilst over one hundred are feared dead. The military has been deployed to help in the rescue effort.

The landslide has led to criticism of the policies of successive government over the living conditions of upcountry Tamils.

“Irresponsibility of Sri Lanka’s past governments responsible for housing, plantation organizations and plantation trade unions are the reasons for the flaws in housing for the upcountry people," the human rights activist and researcher, S. Balakrishnan, told BBC Tamil.

He went on to say:

“Upcountry Tamils were only treated as commodities, such as teas, not as citizens. Their rights are not respected and nor were there any preparations made to guarantee their needs.”

“There is no one to think about the standards of the housing for the upcountry people."

“The government has the main responsibility to implement the standards [of the housing], secondly plantation governance officials, and thirdly trade unions, who claim they are the representatives.”

“Although this spot was previously declared to be a possible dangerous region, people continued to live there as there were no arrangements made for them to be resettled elsewhere.”

“Even now, The Plantation Society Development Fund is in control of the Upcountry Trade Union Development Council leader, Arumugam Thondaman’s ministry. However the government that has ability to get millions needed for a war overnight, and able to get funding to pave highroads from foreign countries, is slow to provide basic amenities for the Upcountry people because trade union politics is a slave to the ruling party. It has knelt down before them to get concessions and as a result, struggles to win-over rights has been muted."