KOCHI: For Sajna, Naseema, Fathima and Ramlath, the image of the intense debris flow that killed people in their sleep refuse to fade from memory. In a moment, they lost their houses, livelihood, and their beloved. Even a year after a series of landslides ripped off their lives, the survivors are yet to overcome the emotional trauma.
While repeated counselling sessions have helped ignite hope, rebuilding life has been a challenge.
Sajna, a mother of three, recounts, “As I was suffering from fever, we went to the hospital and returned to my house at Padavetty near the Vellarmala school by 3pm. I was weak and went to bed early. Around 1.30am, I woke up and the building was shaking. I could hear a roaring sound and screams from neighbourhood.
I woke up my husband and children and we ran out through the back door as water started gushing in through the front door. It was pitch dark and the roar of the river was rising. We ran through the cardamom estates for around two hours and reached Neelikappu.”
It felt like a few helicopters flying low, she says. “The sound still resonates in my ears.”
Sajna’s 30-cent plot and their house were washed away. “I’m scared to visit the place even now. There were around 17 families in our vicinity, of which none survived. My heart sinks when I think about them,” she says. Naseema, who was living in a workers’ lane at Mundakkai, recalls that a group of people were washed away by the river in front of her eyes.
“The house was shaking and I fell off the cot. I could hear screams from a neighbouring house as a child was caught in the flood waters. I called my parents and son and ran out to the road. People were running to the Chooralmala bridge to escape. As we approached the bridge, another family ran into the river and was washed away. That was when we realised the bridge had collapsed. We ran back and took refuge on a hill in the plantation. Later, we were rescued by the fire force,” Naseema said.
Fathima, of Punchirimattam, lost their house constructed with her husband Noufal’s earnings of a lifetime. “We didn’t live in the new house even for six months. My husband, who works in Dubai, never got to see the house,” she said.
Trying to rebuild their lives, Sajna and her friends joined a training programme in umbrella making by Kudumbashree. They now run their own unit. “Initially, there were 21 members in the group. Now, we are only four. The army provided materials needed for 390 umbrellas, and later, our trainer provided materials for 450 more,” she said. They started the unit on May 15. “We get to save little after paying rent. But we have to continue as this is the only source of income for our families,” Sajna said.