The 2024 Wayanad landslides were a series of landslides that occurred in Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Chooralmala, and Vellarimala villages in Meppadi panchayat, Vythiri taluk in Wayanad district, Kerala, India in the early hours of 30 July 2024. The landslides were caused by heavy rains that caused hillsides to collapse onto the areas below. The disaster was one of the deadliest in Kerala's history, with reports of 254 fatalities, 397 injuries, and 118 people missing. Deforestation, seismic sensitivity, poor building construction, and global warming have been identified as possible causes for the landslides and fatalities.

Many government agencies such as the armed forces, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), fire and rescue services, and forest and wildlife authorities, as well as volunteers, launched a large-scale rescue mission to search for survivors.

Wayanad is at risk of landslides during monsoon seasons. Located in the Western Ghats mountain range, its hills consist of faulted and eroded mountain edges of the Deccan Plateau. Geological evidence suggests that this region was shaped during the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana. As a result of this breakup, the Deccan Plateau was formed from basalt rocks, leading to the rise of the Western Ghats. Geophysical data indicates that the mountainous area of Wayanad emerged along the west coast of India during the late Jurassic to early Cretaceous periods when India separated from the African continent. The Iruvanjippuzha and Chaliyar rivers, both originating in the Western Ghats, flow westward towards the Arabian Sea due to the steep gradient from east to west. Numerous smaller streams drain the region into these rivers, often carrying a substantial volume of water during the monsoon months. According to Meppadi government disaster mitigation documents prepared in 2020, the villages of Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Puthumala, Attamala, Vellithodu, Thrikkaippatta, and Kottatharavayal are highly sensitive to landslides and flash floods.

The villages of Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Chooralmala, and Vellarimala are located on hilly terrain and farmland used for tea and coffee plantations, such as Harrisons Malayalam Limited. They border the Nilambur forests and the Chaliyar river. Residents of these villages are primarily agricultural workers who have lived in the area for generations. Most of the residents are plantation workers and raise animals.

The Western Ghats in Kerala experienced heavy rains, accumulating 204.5 mm (8.05 in) of rainfall during the first 24 hours and 372.6 mm (14.67 in) in the following 24 hours before the event. Due to the heavy rainfall, residents of Punjirimattom, Attamala, and Mundakkai were relocated to relief camps by local authorities starting on 29 July 2024 (2024-07-29). Despite an alert issued by the district administration, many residents in the Chooralmala area chose to remain in their homes, as the area was not classified as landslide-prone. Around 02:17 IST (20:47 UTC), a landslide struck near the origin of the Punnappuzha river (one of the tributaries of Chaliyar), between the villages of Punjirimattom and Mundakkai, sweeping away both villages. This was followed by a second landslide at approximately 04:10 IST (22:40 UTC) in nearby Chooralmala, which diverted the Iruvanjippuzha river, causing flash floods that washed away the entire Chooralmala village. The collapse of the only bridge connecting the settlements left approximately 400 families stranded in Mundakkai and Attamala.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) on the Wayanad landslides prepared by the Geological Survey of India, the velocity of the debris flow was 57 m/s (190 ft/s). The debris flow originated as a debris slide at an elevation of 1,544 metres (5,066 ft), then followed the river's path, carrying tons of rock and soil mixed with water, forming a slurry that devastated everything in its path. The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), a subsidiary of the Indian Space Research Organisation, analyzed satellite imagery and released their findings on 1 August 2024 (2024-08-01). The images revealed that approximately 86,000 m² (930,000 sq ft) of land had moved down the hill.

Over 420 people were killed and 397 people were injured, making these landslides the deadliest in Kerala's history. Seventeen entire families died. Most of the victims were tea and cardamom estate workers, asleep when the landslides struck. More than 118 people remain unaccounted for. Among the survivors, at least five children lost both parents, while six others lost one parent in the disaster. The landslides led to the mixing of muddy water and debris with the Chaliyar river, in which over 200 bodies or body parts were found.

More than 1,555 houses and other buildings including schools, a dispensary, the panchayat bhawan, the electricity board office, and 136 community buildings were damaged. Additionally, 290 shops, 124 km (77 mi) of electricity infrastructure, two transformers, 1.5 km (0.93 mi) of rural roads, and three bridges were affected. The landslides also devastated a total of 600 ha (1,500 acres) of land, including 310 ha (770 acres) of farmland. After the landslides, business institutions including hundreds of shops in Chooralmala and Mundakkai were shut down by officials, citing danger of additional landslides. According to Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi, these restrictions cost more than ₹25 crore (US$2.6 million) to the business community in the impacted areas. Harrisons Malayalam lost 10 ha (25 acres) of tea estate, which cultivates an estimated 230 tonnes of tea produce worth ₹3.5 crore (US$370,000); forty-one estate employees and forty-eight of their family members were either missing or dead.