The survivors residing in relief camps are overwhelmed with grief and shock, struggling to comprehend and recall the tragic night of the devastating landslide. Many are anxiously waiting for the bodies of their loved ones who went missing in the catastrophe. It is too soon to ask them to remember their experiences from the previous day's rain. All they can recall is that there was a warning of a potential disaster, but they can't remember the severity of it. Suresh, a native of Chooralmala, remembers being advised to relocate to safer places the day before. "I was told there was a warning issued by the Panchayat, but when they ask us to move, where do we go? We have nowhere to go," says Suresh. He is at a loss for how to comfort his friend Satish, who sits beside him, speechless and heartbroken over his missing 13-year-old son. Suresh feels desperate and angry but doesn't know who to blame.
While rescue workers in Wayanad continue their mission to save people stranded in isolated locations and recover dead bodies, discussions are emerging about failures in disaster preparedness. Many believe the death toll could have been reduced with adequate measures for evacuating people. However, a significant number of people also refused to leave their hard-earned properties behind. Local volunteers with previous experience in rescuing people by moving them to safer locations before a landslide are in the best position to comment. "In the Puthumala landslide of 2019, we managed to keep the death toll as low as possible because of the prior warnings and subsequent actions," says Basheer, a lawyer and a resident of Meppadi who was actively involved in the rescue and relief operations during the 2019 landslide in Puthumala, Wayanad. That massive landslide on the Muthappan hills severely impacted Kavalappara in Malappuram District and Puthumala in Wayanad-on two sides of the hill- claiming a total of 56 lives. In Puthumala, near Meppadi, the death toll was seventeen. "We had heavy and continuous rainfall in the days leading up to the 2019 landslide. The Panchayat initiated a massive evacuation effort, relocating around 100 families to safer areas. The effectiveness of these prior preparations is evident: out of 18 houses completely washed away in Puthumala, we managed to evacuate 14 on the previous day. Unfortunately, four families refused to leave and were lost in the landslide," Basheer recounts.
According to Althaf, another local volunteer in Meppadi, the Panchayat issued warnings and advised people to move to safer places, but these measures were insufficient. He empathises with people like Suresh, who question where they would go. "I believe the severity of a calamity depends on the level of preparedness, which varies from place to place," says Althaf, one of the many volunteers involved in rescue and relief work in Chooralmala. He believes that this is not the time for blame, but compared to the 2019 experience, he feels that the effectiveness of planning and coordination at the local level varies significantly between different Panchayats.
According to Babu, the President of Meppadi Panchayat, the Panchayat was on high alert and had issued prior warnings. "All the resorts in Meppadi and around were asked to close and evacuate people on the 29th," says Babu. He also notes that those who followed the instructions and left are safe.
However, simply instructing people to leave is not always enough, as evidenced by a tragic story shared by Basheer, a local volunteer. "None of us slept on the night of the 29th," Basheer recounts. "There was torrential rain, and many people who initially resisted evacuation tried to escape during the night. But we received reports of herds of elephants in the area, making it unsafe to leave. I heard that two families, totalling 10 people, left their homes to try to reach Meppadi town. However, they encountered elephants along the way and turned back. Tragically, all of them were washed away."
The people in Wayanadu are caught between the deep sea and the devil- natural calamities on one side and human animal conflict on the other.
On the other side, the data on the severity of the landslide highlights the limitations of advance preparations and rescue operations in dealing with such massive events, which are also direct impacts of climate change. "The epicentre of this landslide was deep inside the forest, an area without human interventions. The debris travelled approximately 6 kilometres down the hills, impacting the towns of Mundakkai and Chooralmala which were quite far from the origin of the landslide," says Shekhar Kuriakose, member secretary of the Kerala Disaster Management Authority. Mundakkai recorded an extraordinary 572 mm of rain per hour in the 48 hours leading up to the disaster.
Landslides are not new to Mundakkai; a significant one occurred in July 1984, claiming 14 lives. However, the area's history with landslides has not deterred human habitation. Both Mundakkai and Chooralmala are not remote villages but towns with dense populations, commercial establishments, and schools. Now, these towns are marked by collapsed buildings, houses, and uprooted trees, all buried under debris.
Amidst the chaos and grief, Home Minister Amit Shah's statement that Kerala had been given prior warning but ignored it, sparked anger widely. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan responded, asserting that no such warning was issued. He clarified that the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted only moderate rain and issued only a yellow alert on the previous days in Wayanad, including July 29. The IMD had not issued even a single orange alert from July 23 to 29. The Geological Survey of India, another central government agency, had issued only green alerts on July 29. The Chief Minister refuted the Home Minister's claims by presenting the maps provided by the IMD and the Geological Survey of India in the Press conference held on July 31.
Kerala has experienced unusual rain patterns and recurrent landslides over the past seven years. According to the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), the state received 123 per cent more rainfall than the long-period average during August 2019. During the catastrophic floods of August 2018, the worst in nearly a century, Kerala experienced 96 per cent excess rainfall compared to the long-period average.
Shahina K K in Wayanadu
