The only warning Pettimudi residents received about approaching swirl of muddy water that engulfed their settlement on August 6, last year, was a smell of wet earth shortly before it swept away their houses. A year after the tragedy, Munnar still does not have a fool-proof system to alert any calamity.
Munnar, encompassing precipitous hills, is used to deal with mudslips and flood. A majority of the lanes, where the tea estate workers live, are located in remote locations that too in risky terrains, leaving many areas poorly prepared for a disaster of this magnitude.
“There was no landslip warning in the settlement on that day,” said Murukeshan, one of the lucky few who managed to escape the tragedy. Although the disaster struck late at night, two men who escaped could only alert public and authorities only by 6am next day as there was no electricity or mobile phone coverage.
There is a weather observatory, set up by the authorities of National Center for Earth Science Studies in 2017 in Rajamala. But since the area does not have strong network coverage, officials cannot collect data on a real-time basis.
“Officials monitor rainfall, rainfall size distribution, cloud cover, soil moisture, wind speed etc, which are basic parameters to predict the possibility of a landslide,” a scientist with the NCESS said. Munnar panchayat vice-president Marsh Peter said authorities have initiated steps to get BSNL 3G network coverage in the area. Vijayakumar, former Idukki district panchayat member said even as the officials claim that they have provided 3G facility, it will not work during power outage.