Chooralmala: On Sunday, the state government threw a spanner into the well-oiled machinery of Kerala's voluntary organisations providing free food to the people displaced by the landslide in Wayanad's Meppadi grama panchayat, as well as to those engaged in searching for people buried in the debris citing food safety concerns. However, residents and beneficiaries said petty politics was the only reason for the disruption.

They were livid, particularly because the government did not have an efficient food distribution system. "I have been assisting a search team since 8 am but did not get lunch. At 4.30 pm, I got a bun and a black tea," said Sunil Kumar, a resident of Village Road at Chooralmala. "I could have sat in the relief camp but I am out here because my people are under the debris. Only we know where the houses were and how many were there," said Manoj N, who runs a ration shop in Chooramala. He did not even get the bun.

Manoj said he used to rely on the lunch supplied by a people's collective from Kadachikkunnu in Muppainadu grama panchayat, 20 km away. "They were on time and served piping hot meals," said Manoj, who lives on the Chooralmala Main Road. Kadachikkunnu collective served around 1,000 to 1,500 Kerala meals daily for four days from July 31 to August 4. Residents whose houses are not damaged are also forced to rely on free food because there are no shops, LPG or firewood in and around Chooralmala town, ravaged by the landslide.

Basheer K C, an ambulance driver from Nadapuram in Kozhikode, said since July 31, he has depended on the food supplied by White Guard (WG), a voluntary organisation of Youth League, the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). White Guard volunteers from Narippatta in Nadappuram served food from 5 am to midnight to 8,000 to 10,000 people every day for four days from the kitchen set up at Maqam Darga Shareef & Masjid at Kalladi, 5km from Chooralmala, said Kamarudeen TVK, a caterer and light & sound company owner who headed the kitchen. They used to deliver food at the search site, too.

Around 10.30 am, when the Kadachikkunu collective arrived with Kerala meals for 1,200 people, the police stopped them at Puthumala, 2km from Chooralmala. The Kadachikkunu volunteers were forced to give away the lunch to passersby and motorists.

Mithun KB (31), an ad hoc driver of Kerala Agricultural University in Thrissur, said he had been searching for bodies on the ravaged Mundakkai hills since 7.30 am on Sunday. "But I got food only at 2.30 pm," he said. Mithun is part of a team of volunteers from CPI's All India Youth Federation (AIYF). "Many conducting searches in the higher reaches of the hill did not get food even after that," he said.

Without food, most volunteers searching for bodies in the hills wrapped up the work by 3 pm.

The government, with the help of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurants Association, started a centralised community kitchen at Government Polytechnic to replace these voluntary organisations. On Sunday it served breakfast to 1,705 people, said Deputy Tahsildar PU Sithara, who is in charge of the kitchen. But officials said the community kitchen could make only around 1,000 lunch parcels, and struggled to reach all the people involved in the search operation. "The officials delivered food only in areas where the jeeps could reach. Food volunteers used to walk through the dirt and reach remote places," said Manoj, the resident.

After the backlash from the people, Works Minister PA Mohammed Riyas 'clarified' that the restriction was in place only for areas where Army and NDRF personnel were conducting searches for bodies and voluntary organisations could supply food outside the search area. "Isn't it a reasonable requirement to test food served to the Army for safety?" he said. He also said the government was not doubting the good heart and commitment of the people engaged in providing food. "But we only stopped food distribution in landslide-hit areas where search operations are being conducted," he said. Voluntary organisations can make and distribute food outside the six search zones, he said.

Voluntary groups not to supply food
White Guard's Kamarudeen and Kadachikkunnu people's collective's Yousuf said they would not be serving food to people on Monday. He alleged that on Saturday, Deputy Inspector General of North Range Thomson Jose humiliated their volunteers and threatened to arrest them if they did not shut down the kitchen. "He said it will not make a difference if we stopped serving food," alleged Kamarudeen.

The White Guard volunteers responsible for the community kitchen have returned to Nadapuram with the large cauldrons vessels and tents. "It is not easy to set up such a big kitchen. We will return only if the government asks us to," he said.

Yousuf of Kadachikkunnu said around 450 families in Kadachikkunnu and Puthukkad wards of Muppainad panchayat toil hard to make the food. "All of them are ordinary daily wage labourers. Seeing our work on Facebook, several organisations donate provisions to us. We never accepted money," said Yousuf, who runs a stationary shop at Kadachikkunnu. To be sure, only five of the 16 wards in Muppainad panchayat are with the CPM. Kadachikkunnu is a Congress ward and Puthukkad is with its ally IUML.

Yousuf said the Kadachikkunnu Juma Masjid allowed its space to be used as the community kitchen. They start their work at the first azan around 5 am. The food, a small course of Kerala meals, will be ready by 9 am. "We don't pack our food because it will lose the heat. We transport the cauldrons in which the food is cooked to Chooralmala," he said.

He said the people of Kadachikkunnu provided food for 30 days to the people of Puthumala when a landslide struck the place in August 2019. "From government officials to Army soldiers and residents, wait for our food," he said.

After the government banned voluntary organisations from serving food inside affected areas, a Food Safety officer called Yusuf. "She asked us to send our food to Government Polytechnic for testing. We said they can come here and test and check for hygiene," he said. "Also, our donors want food to be given to those engaged in work. If that is not allowed, we are not serving food," he said. Six of Yusuf's wife's close relatives died in the landslide. "Three bodies were recovered. Three are still missing. We hold back our pain to help those searching for our loved ones. When the government stopped us from providing food, it hurt us even more," he said.

White Guard's kitchen at Puthumala also starts at 5.30 am. Unlike other facilities, this community kitchen serves food throughout the day.

On Saturday afternoon, 300 of the 400 White Guard volunteers engaged in searching did not get food, Kamarudeen sent a jeep up the hill with food. "Police blocked the jeep at multiple points, including Bailey bridge. When they returned, the police took our volunteers to the DIG. He humiliated us and asked us to shut the kitchen," he said.

DIG Thomson Jose told Onmanorama that food safety was one of the main reasons for restricting voluntary organisations from providing food to those engaged in search operations. "But it is not just one or two organisations. Around 10 groups, including a few from Tamil Nadu, are providing food here, crowding the fragile area," he said. However, he added that the restrictions apply only to areas beyond the Bailey bridge, that is in Mundakkai and Poonchiri Mattom and beyond.

He said the organisations were also given the option to leave the food packets at a common point to be distributed by the government. They did not agree to it, he said. "Our directions were twisted out of context," he said.

But Balakrishnan M, an estate worker and volunteer in Mundakkai, said the government stopped the food distribution to reduce IUML's influence among people. "Chooramala ward was a CPM bastion with a lead of around 240 votes. But because of the IUML's work during the 2019 landslide Puthumala, its candidate scored a narrow win of fewer than 10 votes in the 2010 panchayat election," Balakrishnan said.

He said the IUML distributed food kits which were much better than the government's. "The CPM does not want that to repeat," he said.

Call control room for food
Despite the police stopping voluntary organisations from distributing food, the decision was not taken by the Cabinet-appointed three-member ministerial committee to oversee the relief work, a personal official of Revenue and Housing Minister K Rajan said on Sunday.

The minister, however, reiterated the government's position later in the evening press conference. He said those who do not get food on time may contact the police control room, and food will be delivered to them.