Fahmitha was thrown out of her home when a landslide struck Kavalappara village in Kerala's Malappuram district last Thursday. Her torso remained buried under a pile of mud and concrete rubble for more than 14 hours until rescue workers – who heard her feeble cry for help - pulled her out of the debris next day afternoon.
The landslide has not only wiped off her village, but her family also. The 16-year-old is the lone survivor in her four-member family. She lost her father Muhammed and mother Fausiya and younger sister Fathima Shibina. She is now recuperating from the scars of the landslide at a relative's house in Padikkad, 50km away from her home. Nine people, including her relatives and neighbours, were at her house when the tragedy struck the village. Except her neighbour Gopi, all others appear to have lost their lives. Gopi had gone out to buy candles at that time.
Kavalappara is the worst landslide-hit village in Kerala. Located 20km north of Nilambur in Malappuram district, the village was completely wiped out in the landslide. Thirteen bodies have been recovered from the debris so far, and search is on to locate 50 missing persons.
As Kerala is slowly coming to terms with the devastation caused by last week's rains and landslides, heart-wrenching stories of tragedy and survival – like Fahmitha's miraculous escape – have begun to emerge from different parts of the state.
Serving people to forget her losses
At a relief camp at the Government Higher Secondary School in Meppadi in the neighbouring Wayanad district, which also bore the brunt of landslide, ever-smiling Class 10 student Mizriya has been helping the people in distress despite suffering severe personal losses.
The teenager lost her house in the landslide that wiped off Puthumala on Thursday. She lost her close friend and relative Hajira. But Misriya is active in the relief efforts. She is a Student Police Cadet (SPC) at the school. SPC is Kerala Police's school-based initiative to provide training to high school students on discipline and civic sense. Her teachers had advised her not to come for the relief efforts, but Mizriya brushed aside their concerns. "These are my people. I need to be there to look after them."
Drishya has several mothers now
Six-month-old Drishya has now several mothers to feed her and put her to sleep at a relief camp at Gandhi Memorial School at Anjukunnu near Panamaram in Wayanad district. Drishya's mother Muthu, 24, collapsed and died when she was trying to get of her flooded house. Drishya’s father Babu is with her at the camp. This is a perfect example how people take care of each other when calamities strike.
One more blow
The rain and landslides dealt another blow to some others, who barely managed to stand up after the floods in 2018.
Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) employee K P Ismail was one among them. He was working to restore a power line at Vallithode near Mattannur in the Kannur district, when his house was swept away by the landslide.
He got to check his mobile phone only late in the night. That's when he came to know that his house had been completely destroyed.
Ismail of Naduvanad had taken a loan of Rs 13 lakh, sold 30 sovereigns of gold of his wife and took another personal loan of Rs 2 lakh to build his house. The family moved in to the new home on November 26, 2017.
During the last rainy season, his house partially destroyed on August 15. He got Rs 10,000 as relief for flood-affected and Rs 95,000 from the Rs four lakh promised by the government.
The government officials assured him that the remaining Rs 3,00,500 would be given later.
Knowing fully well that this would not suffice, Ismail spent around Rs 1.5 lakh to remove the mud and clean up the house. That's when disaster struck again this year.
