KAVALAPPARA: It wasn't just nature's fury that led to the landslide that claimed the lives of around 60 people at Bhoodanam colony near Kavalappara in Nilambur, Malappuram, on Friday. A cross-section of people with whom ‘Express’ spoke said the landslide was a result of the negligence of authorities, who failed to take preventive measures, and the greed of private landowners owning strips on the hilltop.
There was a mudslip in the region a year ago after a few individuals who possess large chunks of land on the hilltop razed a portion of it to create a rubber plantation. This resulted in the loss of the carpet of grass and other foliage on the hilltop as they used earthmovers and JCBs to level the land.
Soon after last year's mudslip, the people in the colony were evacuated by the authorities. Later, a study was conducted by officials. However, the local administration is still not certain about who had conducted the study -- Geological Survey of India officials or geologists from the Mining and Geology Department. The study, according to colony residents and local administration officials, found that there was a slight chance of a mudslip in the area once the rain subsided in the region, but there was no major threat.
This was proved wrong as there was no mudslip after the rain last year but, this time, a big portion of the hill came crashing down and fell on the colony, burying nearly 60 people alive. Krishnan Athimukkam, a resident whose house is perched on the hill and who miraculously survived the landslip, said the geologists who carried out the study intimated them that there was no major landslide threat in the area. It was one of the main reasons for the colony's residents staying there on the fateful night despite the downpour.
The authorities could not give a clear answer when asked about the findings of the study and the preventive measures they had taken when the incessant rain started. Ebrahim Kunju, present Kozhikode geologist who was the Malappuram geologist till a few months back, said they had not carried out any study. "A delegation of the GSI which conducted a study across the district after the 2018 flood had not submitted any report to the authorities here. Further, we don’t have enough staff strength to carry out a detailed study," he said.
When asked how much land was razed or made cultivable by private individuals on the hilltop, Pothukallu panchayat secretary Ragavan P P said, “There have been reports that large swathes of land were razed. But we don’t have any report on the extent of land razed or the impact of the alleged levelling work on the hill's stability. I was only transferred to Pothukallu recently.”
Panchayat president Karunakaran Pillai and vice-president Valsala Aravindan gave contradictory answers when asked about the team that conducted the study. However, both accepted that they had not carried out any major precautionary measures or evacuation process when the incessant rain continued to lash the district this time, despite the area witnessing a mudslip just a year back.
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The ‘Express’ team was prevented from going to the hilltop to see the levelled portion by the police who said the area was vulnerable to another landslide.
However, Valsa Aravindan, who represents the Bhoodanam ward, said, "Soon after the levelling work came to our notice, we intervened and stopped the landowners from making any changes to the landscape. But no preventive action was taken like fixing the responsibility or restoring the land to its original shape."
A ministerial-level review meeting held here on Monday decided to hold a detailed study to ascertain the hill's health along with other vulnerable hills by roping in experts from one of the IITs.