IDUKKI: Mysterious cracks in walls are forcing dozens of residents of Vannappuram, Rajakumari, Kanchiyar and Senapathy panchayats in Idukki to flee their houses. While three houses have collapsed, many others have been abandoned due to huge cracks in the walls. Locals claim that government agencies failed to give any scientifically satisfying answer for the cracks in the walls.
“It’s been nearly one month since the cracks started appearing in the walls. At first, small cracks appear, then the gap in the cracks started to widen. It happened so fast that we don’t get time to realise the threat. Many a time, the cracks widen with a thunderous sound and forces the occupants to vacate their house,” said Joy, a resident of Vazhavara.
While five houses in the area have completely collapsed, cracks have appeared in nearly 20 houses in the village. Many residents have fled overnight to save their lives. Baby Jose, 50, a local resident, had vacated his house last week after huge cracks appeared during wee hours.
“We didn’t get time to even move our household items. We just left the house in a hurry and to prevent the roof from collapsing, we used bamboos to support it. Now we live in a rented accommodation,” he said.
Baby is not alone. Dozen others have shifted to either rented accommodation or relatives’ houses. While Baby’s house is 20 to 25 years old, a newly constructed house met the same fate and the occupants had to vacate it. The house was constructed nearly a year back, but cracks started appearing in the house soon.
“The old Kuzhakkolichal village in Senapathy panchayat is located on a small hillock. It is an assumption the hillock is unstable. However, we haven’t got any scientifically satisfying answer from the government agencies,” said Mamachan, a local resident.
B Ajayakumar, senior geologist at the Mining and Geology Department in Idukki, said that cracks are the result of recent bouts of heavy rains in deforested hills with rich soil cover, which they scientifically call as Aseismic creep. “The phenomenon needs a detailed geo-technical study, for which we have requested the authorities,” he said.