CUDDALORE: It’s Deepavali eve. People are busy decorating their homes, rushing to nearby towns to make the last-minute purchases and stock crackers and earthen lamps for the festival of lights. Festive spirit has gone viral, spreading joy everywhere. Untouched by the revelry is Ukkiravel, a resident of Visur, shopping in Panruti.
His bag is devoid of the usual fare of sweets and crackers. He had come down to the town to get framed a photograph of his wife and daughter – the only vestige of the memory of his loved ones he could salvage in the aftermath of the flash flood that washed away his home and family last year. It was Deepavali eve then.
For the residents of Visur, Periyakattupalayam and Kalkunam – the villages that bore the brunt of the flash flood on the eve of Deepavali last year – the festival of lights is a sombre occasion this year. It has brought back the haunting memories of the devastating floods of 2015, a disaster of such magnitude the villagers had scarcely seen. Ukkiravel was among the scores of people, who performed the annual obsequies for their families on the eve of Deepavali on Friday.
When water breached the walls of Pappan Vellavari, a canal, Ukkiravel saw the swift flow wash away his wife Vasuki and daughter Kousalya. He now lives in a hut at the spot, where once his house stood, with his two young sons. “I could not save my wife and daughter. Our home was washed away that day. I lost everything,” he says, tears welling up in his eyes.
When Pappan Vellavari wreaked havoc in the nearby villages, some fortunate souls managed to access secure positions atop houses, community halls and the safer side of the bridge across the canal. Bhuvaneshwari’s six-month-old daughter Thenmozhi and husband Shanmugavel were caught in the flow. However, Shanmugavel’s selfless love and presence of mind helped avert a tragedy. “My husband could not manage to reach the other side, as he was holding our baby in arms.
Battling against the swift current, he managed to find a sack. He put Thenmozhi into it and clutched a rope tied from across the bridge to a tree near my house. He held the sack in one hand while clutching on to the rope for their dear lives. He somehow managed to wade across to safety,” says Bhuvaneshwari.
So what has changed in the intervening 12 months in Visur, visibly the worst-hit, with the floods destroying 30 houses? Apart from the assurance of the district officials to build the victims new houses, nothing much. The affected families still call makeshift huts on the canal’s fury route their homes.
For Jothi Lakshmi, the trauma of the flash flood has turned into an indelible memory. “I cannot express in words the agony we have been living in ever since. We lost everything. Our life’s savings, jewellery, property. Officials promised to build houses after identifying a safer location, but nothing has happened,” she adds.
The situation in Periyakattupalayam Colony is not any different. The survivors live in temporary shelters. The toll here was 10. After initially making a beeline for the villages, the flow of good samaritans slowly dried up. “Nobody comes here anymore. Even officials seldom carry out inspections. Lighting system at the shelter has failed and the inmates are worried that their kids safety,” says Kalyani, a resident.
Though the officials swung into action and started building 75 houses, which will be ready in a month or so, the villagers are not pleased. They say the houses are too small to accommodate an average-size family. “The unit they call a house is a hall. How can a family of five live there? The worst part is that the place where these houses are being built is a low-lying area near the canal,” says Sheela, another resident.
In Kalkunam village, farmers are worried over the silt deposit brought by last year’s sudden gush. “About 250 acres along Sengal Odai Canal was buried under silt. Farmers spent all their savings to remove it, but still only half of the affected area has been touched. We are unable to carry out farming,” says R K Ramalingam, president of Kurinjipadi Uzhavar Mandram.
S Selvam (40), from Ayan Kurinjipadi, spent about `1.25 lakh to remove silt off his seven-acre land. “With that kind of money, I could not even remove silt from even half of my property. If this is the condition, how can we take up agriculture? Even if we go ahead with paddy, it will not give much yield, and then we will have bear the losses,” he says, anguish written large on his face.