Year After Munnar Landslide Killed 70, The Hamlet Doesn't Look Like A Place Where Humans Lived
Till August 6, 2020, around 80 people lived used to live in the hamlet in Pettimudi, Munnar. But today none of them are living there and their houses are also nowhere to be seen.
That is because a massive landslide triggered by the heavy rains last year wiped out the traces of life there and 70 people.
Just 12 people were rescued from the debris and even after nearly a month of search operations only 66 bodies were recovered and four victims who were unaccounted for were declared dead.
Survivors relocated
Following the devastating landslide, Tata Tea for whom the ill-fated residents used to work relocated the survivors to other settlements.
With a pile of debris still lying around and grass and plants started growing over it, the only signs that some humans ever lived there are a few roofing sheets and broken walls.
There are also some freshly laid flowers on the spot where the houses of the four missing people used to stand.
The landslide, one of the worst to hit Kerala ever happened at around 10 PM, August 6, 2020, when the residents, all of them tea plantation workers were asleep.
The gushing floodwater and mud swept away their homes even before they could realize what was happening.
The news of the tragedy reached the outside world only the next morning, because Pettimudi which sits at an elevation of 1061 metres is a difficult terrine to reach.?
This along with the fact that there were no communication lines in the area meant that the news of the landslide took hours to reach the authorities.
The only mobile tower in the area was non-functional for four days before the accident due to the power failure caused by the heavy rains.
