WAYANAD LANDSLIDES

Resort, madrassa turn to camp for Wayanad landslide survivors

Nearly 200 people have sought refuge in a resort and a madrassa at Mundakkai in Wayanad where a massive landslide washed away several houses in the early morning hours of Tuesday. Without power, enough food and clean water, they are going through uncertain hours.

“As rain got heavier, we received alerts and we moved out of our houses around 1.30 am. Some of us reached the resort while others took refuge in a madrassa. There are children and ailing elderly people here. We have got some rice at the resort. Porridge is being made, but we are running short of whatever food is left here,’’ said Mohammad Rashid who ran to the resort with his three children and wife.

Rashid is not sure if his house has survived the landslide. Almost all the houses in the neighbouring area have been washed off, he said. His youngest child is one-and-a-half years old and his two other children are aged six and two-and-a-half. With the bridge and road to the resort and madrassa have been damaged, Rashid knows that help is going to take time.

In 2020, a landslide of small magnitude had hit Mundakkai. Many of them had then moved to estate settlements which were considered to be safe. On Tuesday, this area was also affected by the landslide and people scrambled towards the madrassa. “Many people are stuck at Punchirimatham and estate areas, only some of them could move out. We have no idea how to rescue them,’’ said Mohammad Alees, another resident of Mundakkai.

Mohammad Alees was lucky enough to move out of this place on Monday along with his wife and children. However, his uncle and family are missing. “We haven’t heard from them, their phones are switched off. We pray that they have survived,’’ said Alees.

The resort owners, who are also residents of Mundakkai, hadn’t taken in guests owing to weather warnings. The vacant resort has at present turned out to be a safe place for the people affected by landslide.