KALPETTA: It is hard to believe a little town existed here till 24 hours ago. Chooralmala was a town bustling with activities, with the Vellarmala Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, a Shiva temple, a mosque, shops, and settlements of plantation workers. Now, it is a heap of mud, rocks, uprooted trees, and sludge.
“While returning from a visit to my friend in Chooralmala, I had stopped to buy stationery there on Monday evening. It is unbelievable that within hours the place has been destroyed in a massive landslide,” said Chandran K, a resident of Chooralmala and a former ward member representing Puthumala in the Meppadi panchayat.
“Chooralmala is unrecognisable now,” said Noorudheen C K, Chooralmala ward member. “The two buildings of the Vellarmala GVHSS have collapsed. The Shiva temple lies buried in mud. A portion of the mosque has also collapsed.” There were over 150 families residing near the school, he said.
“Now, we can see only muddy land... no trace of those houses. The bridge connecting Chooralmala with Mundakkai and Attamala has been damaged in the landslide. That has cut off routes to the Mundakkai area. The river changed course and started overflowing by the Vellarmala school,” Noorudheen said.
Around an eight-kilometre area has been affected in the landslide. Many people were shifted to their relatives’ houses on Monday evening in view of the heavy rain and the possibility of landslide, said Vellarmala Village Officer Sacharia.
“Some people in Mundakkai reached out to the panchayat authorities at 1.30am saying that a landslide had occurred in their area. We started the rescue operations immediately. It was still raining and it was dark. As the rescue operations were on, a flash flood washed away the Chooralmala village around 4am and we suspect another landslide occurred at the time,” the village officer said.
Mundakkai, surrounded by tea plantations, is considered as the source of the multiple landslides that hit the region early on Tuesday. There are several resorts in the area. “At the moment, we don’t have the exact information about the magnitude of destruction at Mundakkai or the number of houses washed away at Mundakkai,” Noorudheen said.
Toll-free numbers for emergency
Wayanad district-level DEOC: 04936 204151, 9562804151, 8078409770
Sultan Bathery TEOC: 04936 223355, 220296, 6238461385
Mananthavady Taluk TEOC: 04935 241111, 240231, 9446637748
Vythiri Taluk TEOC: 04936 256100, 8590842965, 9447097705
Women and Child Development Dept has asked people to contact Childline Helpline 1098 for children requiring immediate institutional care or mental support
United they worked
Volunteers from different parts of the Malabar region had rushed to the spot to help with the rescue groups. Over 50 such groups were actively engaged in the operations. Around 30 ambulances and jeeps were on standby to shift victims to hospitals.
‘Never imagined a disaster of such magnitude’
“We expect some natural calamity in the area every monsoon. However, we never imagined a disaster of such magnitude,” said Vijayakumar, a resident of Mundakkai. Vijayakumar was among the 80 people who had sought shelter at the residence of the manager of Harrison Estate soon after the first landslide, and was later saved by the Army. Vijayakumar has been working in the estate for three decades. “Over 100 migrant labourers and their families live in the area. There were tourists among the stranded people as Mundakkai has several resorts,” he said.