First anniversary of landslides that killed 298: At Wayanad ground zero, tears & memories

Indian Express

7 days ago

With muffled cries and tears running down their cheeks, they stood in front of a collage of photos of 298 persons who were killed in the landslide of July 30 last year. They saw the pictures of their lost husbands, wives, parents, children, neighbours and co-workers, who had gone to bed on the night of last July 29, but got wiped out along with debris before the next day break.
As Wednesday marked the first anniversary of the tragedy, survivors and relatives of the victims broke down before the collage, which was put up near the mass burial ground at Puthumala near here.
One of the biggest natural disasters in the country, the Wayanad landslide, which hit villages of Mundakkai, Chooralmala and Attamala in Meppadi panchayat, had claimed 298 lives. Of them, 44 missing had been declared dead. As many as seven children lost both their parents and 14 others lost one of their parents. Besides, 17 families, with 65 members, have been wiped out in the disaster. Right from the morning, survivors of the landslide, who live in various parts of Wayanad after the tragedy, flocked to the burial ground, which has been named 'July 30 heartland', where 56 unidentified bodies and 213 body parts were buried.
The emotionally-charged air culminated with an all-religion prayer and guard of honour from the Kerala Police as a mark of respect to those fallen to the fury of nature. Ministers, people's representatives and officials attended the function.
Saheesh, who had a miraculous escape in the tragedy, came to pray for his close friends and their families.
'My daughter Jamshira was seriously injured, but she does not have the courage to turn up for the memorial programme. She is yet to recover from the mental trauma. My nine neighbours died and I have to pray for them,'' said Saheesh, who lives on a rented premise outside the tragedy zone. Pointing to three tomb stones marked with the house name 'Kallingal', estate worker M Saji said he had lost eight from his extended family. 'My wife Ushadevi's sister and her family…,'' he said as he placed burning sandal sticks near the tomb stones one after another.
Ten-year-old Avanthika, one of the seven children who lost both their parents, came with the family of her paternal uncle, to pay tributes to the departed. 'Avanthika was injured. She came to know that her parents and eldest brother are no more only three months after the tragedy. She did not believe. Later, we came to this burial ground to convince her. However, she often insists on seeing her parents and it has been a traumatic year for us,'' said her uncle, Pradeepan.
Aritha Satheesh, who lost her son and eight others in her extended family, said: 'I am serving food at an orphanage today. In the afternoon, I will visit my abandoned house at Chooralmala. After the death of my son and close family members who lived nearby, I had never gone to the village.''
After a memorial event at the burial ground at Puthumala, many of the survivors visited Chooralmala, Mundakkai and Attamala, the villages they had fled on that fateful night.
An expatriate for 30 years, Shoukath, 52, found that time had come to a standstill at his village, Mundakkai. 'My house and one acre of cardamom plantation were washed out. Weeds have grown over the place where my house stood. I will get a house in the rehabilitation scheme, but I have to start from scratch. I had lost 26 of my relatives,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Revenue Minister K Rajan said that the state government will provide houses to 49 more people, bringing the total number of families included in the township for rehabilitating the survivors to 451. Traders and owners of buildings will be given compensation. The state has got `700 crore in the distress relief fund for the landslide victims. The entire amount will be spent for rehabilitation, he said.
A model house at the township, coming up at Kalpetta municipality, was completed on Wednesday.