'People were asleep when they heard a loud noise and then a huge deluge of water accompanied with boulders and trees hit their homes.'
'Locals say around 400 houses have totally vanished in the landslide and floods.'
"People were asleep when they heard a loud noise and then a huge deluge of water, boulders and trees hit their homes. The homes just vanished,' V A Majeed, a resident of Wayanad and a senior Congress leader in the district, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
It is very sad. Such a huge tragedy has never happened in the history of Kerala.
The landslide has taken place in Vythiri taluk around 20-25 kms from Kalpetta (the district headquarters) on the border of Wayanad district.
It is a hilly area with tea plantations. There are many labourers who live and work there in the tea plantations.
Locals say around 400 houses have totally vanished in the landslide and floods. It is large scale devastation.
The area saw unprecedented rain -- on Sunday 200mm, Monday 372mm -- within 48 hours it received 572mm rain. At midnight they were struck by landslide, followed by another landslide at 6 am.
The people were taken by surprise. They never expected that such a thing could happen. They were asleep when they heard a loud noise and then a huge deluge of water accompanied with boulders and trees hit their homes.
The homes just vanished in the small towns of Chooralmala and Mundakkai.
The military has constructed a temporary bridge to access the area and the exact extent of loss of lives and damage will be known today or tomorrow.
Most of the residents were labourers employed in the tea estates or those with small businesses like shops etc. They are mostly lower middle class and poor households.
It is still raining, though the intensity has decreased. The slush and debris is restricting movement in the area.
Around 170 bodies have been recovered and there are many still buried in the debris.
A private medical college, primary health centres and taluk hospital in the area are providing emergency care. Around 100 people are being provided treatment in hospitals.
Relief camps have been opened for the survivors in schools etc, and food, medicine and essentials are being provided.
People are queuing up to donate blood. State and private organisations are collecting and donating food and other essentials.
The Kerala chief minister will arrive tomorrow. Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi could not get landing permission for the helicopter so they have postponed their visit to maybe tomorrow.
A proposal for a tunnel road project estimated at Rs 2,400 crores is being planned and environmentalists have already said that a big project will be detrimental to this ecological sensitive area.
Glimpses from the devastation...
WATCH: The devastation caused by landslide in Wayanad
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
