Twenty one-year-old Vijay says he has nothing more to lose as the landslides at Pettimudi near Munnar last week snatched away his entire family of 15 people, including his father and mother. Only his step-mother and one of his half-sisters managed to survive the devastating landslide. While the step-mother is recovering, the sister is in the ICU of a hospital battling for her life.
Of the 15 people, bodies of only six people – Vijay’s father Shanmugaiah, mother, two sisters and their husbands – have been found so far, while the husband of a sister and eight children are still missing.
“How do I describe my loss? I lost my entire family. There is none left except my step mom. Everything was gone in one night. Worse is we could not even see the lifeless bodies of the children. We have no hope that they would have survived,” Vijay told DH. Shanmugaiah’s second wife died, but his first wife has survived.
Vijay’s father, who belonged to Kayathar in Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu had migrated to Munnar and was working at the Kannan Devan Tea Estate along with his son-in-law. More than 45 people who are either dead or missing belong to this village, which is now mourning the loss of its people.
Read: Death toll in Munnar landslide rises to 49, over 25 still missing
The 21-year-old survived as he was stranded in his native village after coming from Pune due to the Covid-19 lockdown. “Numerous efforts to go to Munnar to meet my parents and sisters failed due to lockdown restrictions. I have been here for the past three months and I really do not know how to come out of this irreparable loss,” he said, unable to control his emotions.
Vijay, his cousin Ravi, and uncle Murugaiah went to Munnar to complete the last rites of their family members and returned only on Sunday. They had to return immediately to Kayathar as they could not find a place to stay due to Covid-19 restrictions.
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“We were standing in the rain for eight hours in a row. All that we could see was the disfigured bodies of my uncle and his family. No one should face such a tragic death in their life. Most of the bodies were disfigured. Some bodies were beyond recognition as they were pulled out several hours after the landslides. We can never forget the faces of our family members,” Ravi told DH.
Ravi said he visited his uncle and his cousin sisters in Munnar in March just before the nation-wide lockdown was announced and stayed with them for a few days. “I was very much attached to my uncle’s family. I was like their son Vijay, even much more than him. Our world has come crashing down with the landslides,” Ravi said.
Vijay has been promised help by Tamil Nadu Information Minister Kadambur Raju who hails from Thoothukudi district. “The minister and district collector came on Monday to condole the death of people from our village. We hope they will help me in restarting my life without my family,” the 21-year-old said.
Murugaiah, who had worked at the Kannan Devan Estate, said eight houses would be lined in a row and all the four rows were affected due to the landslide.
“We always knew the houses were located in a dangerous zone, but what was the other option? They had to feed their families. Not just my family, the entire village is devastated after hearing about the landslide. Nearly 45 people from our village were there at the houses when the landslides took place. And all of them are from our area Bharathi Nagar of Kayathar,” he said.
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