Kerala landslips: Was Vilangad in Kozhikode ignored when all eyes were on Wayanad?

Growing demand for rehabilitation package in Vilangad after landslips, highlighting lack of immediate aid compared to Wayanad.

The clamour for a comprehensive rehabilitation package for Vilangad in Kozhikode district is growing louder with each passing day, following the devastating landslips that struck the mofussil towns and villages in Vanimal and Narippatta grama panchayats early on July 30. Vilangad in Vanimal was the worst-hit.

Both Vadakara MP Shafi Parambil and Nadapuram MLA E.K. Vijayan have called for a master plan to rebuild the lives of farmers and traders in the region. Mr. Parambil raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, while Mr. Vijayan urged the State government to intervene and take immediate action.

Nearly 200 lives were saved that night as villagers, alarmed by the ominous sounds of landslips and the Mahe river in spate, alerted their families and neighbours about it. Otherwise, a disaster could have unfolded, similar to the one in Meppadi, Wayanad, roughly 90 km away, on the same night. There was one death, K.A. Mathew who lost his life while saving around 40 people from the landslip.

However, agricultural losses, including the destruction of teak plantations, are incalculable. Around seven bridges, both minor and major, including the one in Vilangad town, lie either in ruins or buried beneath massive boulders. People of Vilangad completely lost their agricultural land, houses, and other properties.

Multiple landslips along various tributaries of the Mahe river hit Vilangad at almost the exact hour as Chooralmala and Mundakkai in Wayanad. However, the survivors at Vilangad were mostly left to take care of themselves. Before help came much later in the day, local residents of Vilangad had set up temporary bridges and roads using areca trees, rescuing the 13 families that were isolated as a chasm had formed between them. No volunteers rushed to help, neither did supplies flow to those in relief camps.

Two days after the disaster, those in relief camps had to ask for essential supplies. Food kits started arriving a day later. While the local panchayat and officials helped coordinate the camps, there was little help from outside. The cries for help from Vilangad were not immediately heard. Higher officials and Ministers visited the calamity zone only three days later.

One of the reasons for the lack of outside intervention in Vilangad could be that the region was not easily accessible, especially after several roads and bridges were destroyed. With no power supply for three days after the disaster and disruption of mobile phone networks, the news coming out of Vilangad was fewer compared to Wayanad.