Kindling flame on the mountains / Wearing the anklet of Periyar river / Idukki is a girl smiling profusely // It is the richly wet land that fills Kerala’s cash-pouch…
This is how a Malayalam movie song glorifies Idukki, Kerala’s mountainous district whose territory rises to altitudes of over 6,000 feet at many points and is known for its breathtaking natural beauty, spice gardens, tea plantations, steep-falling rivers, dense jungles and sprawling meadows.
Rather, that is how the territory nestled among the Western Ghats used to be till a few days ago. The 12-day deluge this month has ravaged Idukki in such a way that it looks a totally devastated land. Many hillsides have been razed by landslides and floods have diverted rivers and swallowed jungles, farmlands and villages and pushed tens of thousands into misery.
In the 12 days of the deluge, Idukki suffered 278 major landslides and landslips of medium and small magnitude at over 1,800 places. As many as 56 people were killed in the monsoon fury in the district and 46 of them had died in 19 incidents of landslides. Searches for seven persons missing in the landslides and floods are still continuing while nearly 60 suffered injuries.
Idukki received the highest volume of rainfall in the State in the 12 days of deluge starting August 8 but many argue that this alone was not responsible for the massive disaster. A major part of it is extremely sensitive ecologically and in terms of soil nature, has suffered unrestrained human intervention in the past 150 years and this has contributed to the disaster, many argue.
“Idukki’s nature, geology, geography and ecology do not permit human interventions of such scales,” says KP Jayakumar, a scholar who hails from Nedumkandam in the district. “Deforestation, stone-quarrying, constructions, hill-razing for extensive farming, etc have destabilized the environmental and ecological systems of Idukki,” he points out.
Many seem to believe in the theory that the huge dams in the district, including the giant Idukki hydel reservoir, that had to be opened to release water at a rate of millions of gallons per second due to heavy inflow from catchment areas, was the cause of a major part of destruction in the district.
As per the preliminary estimates drawn up by the State Revenue Department, 1,200 houses have been totally destroyed and 2,266 partially in the district and the loss of farmlands is to the extent of 11,340 hectares but people’s representatives belonging to different political parties from the district are refusing to agree with these figures.
“These estimates are false and are based on certain old norms,” said former Water Resources Minister PJ Joseph at a review meeting the other day. “Many of the houses that are included in the category of damaged cannot be used again. At least 5,000 houses have been rendered totally unlivable in the district,” he said.
A senior engineer with the Public Works Department said that a minimum of three years would be needed for reconstructing the 1,200 km of State-managed main roads in Idukki district.
Apart from that, at least 1,000 km of roads managed by local bodies have been damaged. Dozens of bridges have also been washed away, destroyed or weakened by the floods and landslides.
The worst stories of destruction in the deluge in Idukki district have come perhaps from Munnar, arguably the hottest tourist destination in the God’s Own Country. landslides and floods destroyed all roads leading to Munnar region and its two towns — Old Munnar and New Munnar — were flooded following heavy rains and release of water from the swollen Mattupetty reservoir.
Several villages and towns in the mountainous district are still cut off from the rest of the State. For example, there is no road access to Mankulam town and its surrounding areas for the past 15 days.
The Mankulam region has not had power for the past one month. The mud, rocks and trees brought in by floodwaters are yet to be cleared.
Survivors of the massive landslide that hit Panniyarkutty in the district are now almost certain that their village cannot be restored.
The landslide virtually wiped out the entire village, nestled on the banks of the Panniyar river. The local school, Christian church, community health centre, shops, etc have been totally destroyed.
“There is no way to restore the village. The only way ahead for us is to migrate to other places. However, we will make one last effort at restoration,” said a villager.