JOIN US'Not just a concrete structure...': Untold stories of misery from Kerala
A concrete house on a riverbank plunging into the gushing waters is just one of the viral, heart-wrenching scenes from Kerala, decimated by landslides and floods this week.
It was not just a house that was washed away by the Manimala river in Kottayam's Mundakayam but a private bus driver's earnings and savings of 25 years for his daughter's future.
Nature's fury has left behind a series of untold stories of misery.
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Around 30 houses in Mundakayam area alone were washed away. The home of bus driver Jebi was considered to be one of the strong structures of the locality and was serving as a home to neighbours during the unprecedented rain.
As the water came gushing in, Jebi's wife, daughter and others in the house moved out and within 30 minutes, the house was gone. Jebi's wife fainted when she witnessed it, while Jebi himself was stranded in the flood at nearby Kanjirapally in Kottayam district.
Jebi told the media that savings he had kept for his daughter's future were also washed away. He was yet to pay off the loan he took to construct the house. Some cash that his wife kept in her purse was also missing after the melee. What was left behind was only the clothes we are wearing, says Jebi pleading for the government's support.
It was 14-year-old Alan's birthday on Monday when rescue workers were searching for his body among the debris of the landslide-hit Koottickal in Kottayam district. The family was also planning to celebrate his birthday with his favourite black forest cake, says his uncle Reji.
Alan and his mother Sonia were buried alive in the landslide, while his father Jomy had a narrow escape. Sonia's body was already recovered. Some parts recovered from the spot, believed to be that of Alan's, were found to be that of an adult upon medical examination. Hence, the search for Alan's body continues.
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