‘Even normal rain triggers panic now’

Five families displaced by Parakkamala landslip

The family of Thanniyil Jacob, a 65-year-old settler farmer, is yet to recover from the dread of August 8 afternoon, as massive boulders and uprooted trees tumbled down along with slurry, almost hitting a couple of houses downslope of Parakkamala near here, bordering the Kodagu district of Karnataka.

Two massive landslides close to Jacob’s house that day destroyed roads and crops. Fear is writ large on Jacob’s face as he recalls watching helplessly as a displaced mass of debris hurtled down with a roar.

The house of his younger brother Thanniyil Mathew across the narrow road escaped destruction by a whisker. Of the five families there, only Jacob’s has returned home.

Fervent prayers

Jacob’s house is on a four-acre plot on the foothills of Parakkamala. Though the landslip occurred nearly 50 metres from his house, the debris of rock and wood, and floodwater gushed towards his brother’s house. “We were praying as we frantically called our local church and Fire and Rescue Service,” adds Mary, Jacob’s wife, who still struggles to get a good night’s sleep. Even normal rainfall triggers panic, she says.

From 1952

Jacob, whose father had settled here in 1952, says the family is now planning to live in a smaller but safer place.

“Seven of us who were inside the house had a narrow escape,” says Bincy Sabu, Mathew’s daughter-in-law. Marooned by the flood, the family was rescued by the local people. After staying in a relief camp here for a week, the family has now shifted to a relative’s house. She says the family can only hope to return to the house after the rains.

Pond destroyed

The landslips destroyed a small pond in the area which was the only source of drinking water. Road connectivity was restored after breaking into pieces the huge rocks that blocked the road.

KSEB workers are still at work restoring electricity supply. The loss of crops and land is yet to be estimated.