Relatives of deceased, survivors, tahsildar from Karnataka share heartwrenching tales of Wayanad landslide

Mysuru: Relatives of the deceased and survivors from Karnataka in the landslide of Wayanad in Kerala, and Tahsildar from Gundlupet, who went for rescue operations there, who witnessed the tragedy at the ground level, had heart-wrenching tales, when the DH approached them over phone.

"All our nine relatives had climbed up the first floor, as the water gushed inside the house and were washed away with mud, which collapsed from the hill behind," said Mahadev, a relative of nine people from Ukkalagere of T Narsipur taluk of Mysuru district, who have died due to the landslide at Chooralmala.

"All three families, with three members each, had five cent land each on which they had built houses. They all worked in the tea estates nearby. We all migrated here, a few years ago. My aunt Mahadevamma, 70, stayed with her sons (who have died with families) during the day and with her daughter Rathna, a widow, during night in the tea estate quarters, in the upper part of the hill. Both Mahadevamma and Rathna have survived. We have identified and cremated three bodies, we are yet find six more bodies. It is very painful to see all bodies, to identify our kin," Mahadev cried.

Vinod, a therapist at an Ayurvedic centre, a native of Gundlupet and resident of Chooralmala, said, "My friends, who were alive two days ago, are no more now. I am left with the task of identifying their bodies".

"Me, my mother Gowramma and three of my relatives - uncle Siddaraju, aunty Jayashree and cousin Mahesh - had a narrow escape, in a matter of two minutes. We just came out, to see our cow, which was screaming. Or else, we would have died. We ran towards the upper part of the hill. There were three repeated landslides between 1 am and 4 am of Tuesday. We never thought we could be alive. It was only by Tuesday evening, we reached the relief camp in Meppadi," Vinod said.

"My mother and three relatives worked in the same estate. We stayed in adjacent houses in the tea estate quarters. I have sent my mother and relatives to our house in Gundlupet, where my father B Nagaraju resides," Vinod said.

"My wife Pravitha and two-month-old baby girl were with my in-laws Krishna and Dhanalakshmi in Meppadi. They too faced flood situation, but survived. I have sent them to my mother-in-law's parents place in Chamarajnagar. I am staying back in the relief centre to identify the bodies of friends, and to look for some of our vital things at my home. In fact, everything is washed away. I am not sure, if I can find something," Vinod said.

Gundlupet Tahsildar Ramesh Babu said, "In my 30-year career, I never saw such disaster, where bodies were pulled one after the other from under the debris, several km away from Mundakkai and Chooralmala. People lined up at the mortuary, struggling to identify bodies, which had lost identification marks due to injuries. Bodies of Rajendra and Shivanna were found in Nelambur, 60 km from Chooralmala, Leelavathi and Nihal were found 100 km away in Mallapuram from Mundakkai".

"All survivors have their own tales. Rajendra, a painter, and Rathna, employee at a tea estate, had purchased a new house in February. Anil and Jhansi Rani, who lived in Europe, had bought land at Mundakkai and settled there two years ago. Leelavathi, who died with her grandson Nihal, had come from Kaththaragatta village of KR Pet taluk of Mandya district, to her son Anil's house," he said.

Most of those from Chooralmala and Mundakkai, who have died, worked in a 5,000 acre tea plantation owned by a Russian company, Ramesh Babu said.