Chooralmala (Wayanad): On Sunday evening, August 4, a group of young Chooralmala residents walked through knee-deep slushy soil behind the British-era dispensary of Harissons Malayalam's Sentinel Rock Estate. They were looking for a wrecked jeep of Prajeesh V in the debris accumulation zone near the Village Office Road. After some time, they left disappointed, not getting any keepsakes.
Prajeesh, just 36 years old, is a legend in Chooralmala and Mundakkai today. Residents said he rescued nearly 100 people from the tea estate and died while rushing to save six more trapped in Naseer Erakadan's house on Chooralmala School Road. "He never cared about his life... always put others ahead of him," said Jithu M (23), who worked with Prajeesh at Utopia Resorts, beyond the Vellarimala hill that was struck by a series of landslides in the early hours of July 30.
He was extraordinarily courageous, could swim in any water and walk through forest any night, said his close friend and tea estate worker Balakrishnan M (54). Prajeesh was a chef at Utopia Resorts and also managed a four-acre cardamom farm he took on the lease. He was also on the Forest Department's Rapid Response Team (RRT) to rescue.
Sensing trouble because of the non-stop rain since July 28 night (Sunday), Prajeesh took the six tourists in his resort to safety Monday morning. He carried a torch, rescue rope and a power chainsaw, which came in handy because the road was blocked by fallen trees at several places. "He is always prepared," said Jithu, who trekked down with the tourists.
On the night of the landslides, he took 90 people from the six houses in his lane to a safe estate bungalow on a hilltop. "From 9 pm to 11 pm, we were shifting people to safer locations because the river was swelling up. After that I went home," said Ajith M S (21), a resident of Soojipara and another friend of Prajeesh.
But Prajeesh was not done yet. He was going around in his jeep, said Balakrishnan. Around 1 am on July 30, soon after the first landslide was triggered at Vellarimala hills, Balakrishnan got an SOS call from Prajeesh. "He told me 'Bala eta, come to the School Road with a few youngsters. It is flooding. A lot of people are trapped. Don't go back to sleep'," Balakrishnan recalled. The landslide was not unexpected because of the incessant rain.
Balakrishnan did not waste time. He got the 10 best youths from his Attamala village and headed for the School Road at Chooralmala. Balakrishnan's team reached the 13th Bridge, a culvert over a small stream, near the dispensary, around 1.30 am. They saw a woman dead, lying face down on a log. "We covered her up with our dhoti, lifted and placed her on the edge of the stream," Balakrishnan said. Soon, they spotted the bodies of four more estate workers, all of them from West Bengal. "We carried the bodies to a safer place," he said. During this time, Prajeesh was repeatedly calling Balakrishnan. "He told me that uprooted trees from the hills had blocked the School Road," Balakrishnan said.
Prajeesh told him that Naseer B Erakadan, a hill produce merchant, asked him to come with rope to rescue his family members from the two-storey house. Water had entered the ground floor.
Naseer's father Beerankutty (70) had difficulties in hearing, speaking and walking. His mother Nabeesa (60), wife Rejina M, and their two sons Niyas A N (28) and Anas A N (25) were all at home. One son recently got engaged and the other was a manager at Tree Valley Resort in Wayanad. "All of them were at home on July 29 because it was Anas's birthday," said Manoj N, Naseer's friend and ration shop owner at Chooralmala.
Prajeesh was also close to the family. Carrying the rescue rope, he climbed the hill to bypass the School Road, made dangerous by floating trees. At 2 am, there was a huge blast in the hills. It was the second landslide and Balakrishnan called Prajeesh to get out from there. "He picked up the call and said he almost reached in front of Naseer ikka's house," said Balakrishnan. That was the last he heard from Prajeesh.
Balakrishnan said he had a clear and straight view of the origin of the landslide from the 13th bridge. "We saw a lit-up river flowing down with the sound of hundreds of helicopters," he said. "The lights were sparks caused by the boulders grinding against one another," said Balakrishnan.
All the 10 ran to the highest hill near the bridge. Within moments, Mundakkai and Chooralmala were levelled by the boulders. Naseer and his family were gone. There is no evidence of Prajeesh's quarters or the land on which it stood. But his timely action saved the lives of many including his mother Ramani, elder brother Pravi and his wife and two children.
But Balakrishnan lost his grandmother Thankamma, his paternal uncles Murugan and Rajan and their wives to the landslides.
