With moist eyes, folded hands and prayers, the anniversary of the Geddhai landslide was observed by scores of persons on Saturday.
On this day in 1990 heavy rains had triggered an avalanche of boulders at the Pegumballa Camp of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) in Geddhai just beyond Manjoor. It had claimed the lives of 36 persons.
By way of remembering them and enhancing awareness about the vulnerability of The Nilgiris to natural calamities, people from various walks of life in Geddhai joined hands to observe the anniversary. Among them many were relatives of the victims. Selvi Rajashekaran, a retired teacher, presided.
Social activist Gopalakrishnan hoped that the observance of the anniversary would bring some solace to the relatives of the victims. A long-time resident King Kanikkaraj underscored the need to put up a memorial for the victims. He hoped that people would learn lessons from such incidents and ensure that the laws of nature are obeyed. Prayers by representatives of various religions, planting of 25 saplings and honouring of residents who survived the tragedy marked the occasion. Among those who participated was the Executive Engineer, Tangedco, Palanisamy Aasari.
