A year later, scars are still raw in Pettimudy

The landslip of August 6, 2020, has left a vibrant settlement near devoid of life

It was once a lively settlement of estate workers complete with a small tea shop and a grocery shop. Those who did not work with Kanan Devan Hill Plantation Ltd., which ran the plantation, also lived there — jeep drivers, daily wage earners, and those doing odd jobs in Munnar town. Some had been staying there for four generations. Pettimudy now looks deserted, shorn of life, inhabited only by heaps of rocks and debris that came tumbling down the Kurisumala hills, wiping out the three estate lanes on August 6, 2020. The landslip killed 66 persons and altered the landscape. Four persons still remain untraced and have been declared dead on official records. Their families are yet to be issued their death certificates and the due compensation is still trapped in red tape. Only 12 persons escaped from the landslip that occurred around 10.30 p.m. The outside world came to know of the tragedy only by 7 a.m. the next day when two workers informed the watchers at the Eravikulam National Park, the entry point to Pettimudy.