CHOORALMALA: With heavy hearts and tearful eyes, teachers from Vellarmala Government VHSS returned to Chooralmala on Wednesday to pay tributes to the 33 students they lost in last year’s devastating landslide. The teachers placed flowers at a newly installed hoarding bearing the smiling portraits of their beloved students—young lives now immortalised in memory, forever part of the hills they once called home.
Arriving by 7 am, the teachers crossed the Bailey bridge to reach the site from where they could see the ruins of the school. Facing the skeletal remains of the building, they erected the hoarding and solemnly offered flowers, one by one, in front of each photo. Many could not hold back their tears.
“It’s been a year, but the pain remains,” said V Unnikrishnan, affectionately known as Unni Mash among students and locals. The former headmaster of Vellarmala school said efforts are now focused on helping the surviving students rebuild their lives.
“We are trying to give them a fresh start. After the tragedy, we organised regular counselling sessions to help them cope with the loss. Now, our priority is to secure a better future for them,” he told TNIE.
Elsewhere in Chooralmala town, an emotional scene unfolded as students spotted a second hoarding of the victims, newly fixed near the bus boarding point. By 8am, students from the school began gathering to catch their school bus. Drawn to the display, a group of them began quietly searching the photographs for familiar faces.