Memories and scars of an apocalypse

Jaison, who lost two of his kin in a landslip at Keezhanganam, struggles to figure out the tragedy

29-08-2018, Kannur, Kerala . Jaison aged 47, looking through the concrete debris of his home where his wife and father crushed to death in Karikottakkari around 70 km from Kannur. A landslip with heavy flow of rocks, slurry and water taken away the basement of his house resulted to descend the concrete house. Jaison, a loading worker by profession was out for his work while the landslide hit the basement of his home and taken way his 5 cents of land and the loved ones leaving only conctrete debris. Photo: Shaju John

It is a steep climb to what was once a single-storey house on the foothills of a hill in the eastern hill areas of Kannur district. What remains now is the rubble of the house and memories of two relatives who lost their lives when it was taken down by a landslip.

E.T. Jaison, 47, father of two children, is grieving the loss of his 43-year-old wife Shyni and his father Thomas, 75, who were buried alive when their house at Keezhanganam, near Karikkottakkari, was caught in a landslip that left a trail of destruction in the area on August 8. Now staying at his brother’s house nearby, Jaison, a timber loading worker, is struggling to figure out the tragedy that has befallen his family. The piece of land where the house was built nearly five decades ago by his father, who migrated from erstwhile Travancore, is also no more in the wake of the avalanche of huge rocks and debris that day.

Scary evening

“The landslip happened around 4.30 p.m. when my son, an autorickshaw driver, and I were not at home. When I got a call from a friend informing me of a landslip near our house and asking me to rush back home, I did not expect that I am going to be greeted by the tragedy,” said Jaison.

As a stretch of the road leading to his house had caved in, it took hours for an excavator to reach the spot and extricate the bodies of the two buried under the debris, he said.

That day a stream behind his house turned into a route for the debris that tumbled down the the hill. Around five acres under cultivation, mainly rubber, was literally washed away in the area. Many families that lived nearby were shifted to a relief camp fearing landslips after incessant rain lashed the hill areas of the district for days together.

“As soon as I saw the gushing rocks and debris coming in the direction of my house, I ran out with my wife and two children,” recalled Xavier Payyappally, who lives on an eight-cent plot nearly 100 metres below the house of Jaison. His house was miraculously saved as the debris flow took a diversion close to his house, he said.

Jaison shares the belief of local residents that a granite quarry above the hill that was shut down a year ago following their protests could have something to do with the landslip in the area.