Landslide threat: Poor cooperation of upland residents affects relief measures in Kerala’s Kozhikode district

Relocation challenges persist in landslide-prone Kozhikode district in Kerala as residents resist despite repeated warnings from authorities.

The relocation of thousands of people settled in the landslide-prone upland areas of Kozhikode district in Kerala continues to be a big challenge for the local administrators with the reluctance on the part of majority of residents.

Citing agriculture works and animal husbandry activities, many of them are ignoring the warnings issued multiple times by the disaster management authorities and the local administrators.

Though Thiruvambadi panchayat reportedly has the widest areas of such risky spots occupied by upland farmers, no families have responded positively to the relocation request in the wake of the rough weather alert.

Previous research reports of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) confirms that 23.79 % of the total area of the panchayat falls under the high-risk area. Many of these locations have also witnessed grave landslips in the past, claiming lives and causing other massive destructions. 

“We issued alerts at the beginning of monsoon season itself to ensure safety. People residing at Kalppini, Anayodu Anakkampoyil and Koombara are in the high-risk group, but they are unwilling for any relocation now citing agriculture activities. We are helpless,” says Thiruvambadi panchayat president Bindu Johnson.

The situation is almost the same in the case of tribespeople settled in three different hamlets around the problem spots, she adds.

Ms. Johnson points out that places such as Anakkampoyil and Pulloorampara have witnessed multiple incidents of landslips in the past causing severe destruction to property and lives. “Wards such as Kavukallel, Anakkampoyil, Kodakkattupara, Ponnamkayam and Urumi continue to be the most dangerous spots where residents are seemingly indifferent to safety instructions,” she reveals.