Wayanad: Thirteen days after the devastating July 30 landslide which nearly decimated three villages of Wayanad’s Meppadi region, many survivors on Sunday tagged along with the search team and visited the region for the first time after the disaster.
After a day’s break, an extensive search resumed in landslide-hit Wayanad on Sunday morning to find those who are still missing.
Gracy and her husband Thankachan, who were rescued by the fire force on July 30, stood before their partially destroyed house which was filled on the ground floor with muddy sludge from the landslides.
“I still tremble from the memories of that night,” Gracy said.
She said the whole house was shaking and the water and sludge gushed into the house. They escaped to the second floor.
“We could not leave the house because there was debris and sludge all around,” she added.
Thankachan said that soon after the second landslide, around 5 AM the fire force personnel came looking for survivors and saved them.
“We have come here for the first time after the landslide. There were numerous houses in front of ours. But now there is none,” Thankachan said.
Apart from his residence, which is partially destroyed, all other houses and quarters around that locality have been washed away.
Mahin, who used to reside at Punchiri Mattom, told the media that he went to the area where his house was located and found only a few heavy boulders and trees.
“We didn’t get anything. Everything else was either washed away or buried under. All we found were a few huge boulders and tree trunks,” Mahin said.
Many residents who joined the search operations today were found leaving heartbroken after witnessing the complete devastation of the land they used to live in.
The search operations took a break on Friday afternoon as the area was handed over to the SPG in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the disaster-hit Mundakkai and Chooralmala regions on Saturday.
Besides the police and fire force personnel, volunteers of various service and youth outfits, survivors of the landslides and kin of the victims also joined the search operations.
However, the search operations were halted after heavy rains lashed the Mundakkai and Chooralmala hamlets of Wayanad.
According to the state government, the landslides killed 229 people, and over 130 are still missing.
