As the monsoon was in full fury last week, the Kannappankundu river that flows largely through parts of Kozhikode district chose to give birth to a new tributary. A swirl of water began to force its way through homesteads, piercing walls and everything else on its way. By the time the skies cleared, all that was left behind were a pile of concrete blocks, uprooted trees and broken power supply lines. An angry river had delivered a chilling message to Puthuppadi village, located nearly 40 km from Kozhikode city.
Hapless villagers say they have never witnessed such a calamity before. Scared of yet another onslaught, they keep themselves awake at nights. Among the 30 grief stricken families is that headed by T. Mujeeb, a lorry driver, who has little left after the ravaging waters ran through what would have been his home near the Mattippara bridge in Kannappankundu.
“The man had spent all his hard-earned money on the new house. His family members were preparing for a celebration on August 17,” says M.K. Krishnakumar, one of his neighbours. “Not just Mujeeb, there are six families whose houses were damaged in the sudden emergence of the river’s tributary,” he says.
The plight of Korangad Sulekha, a middle-aged woman who returned to her village after several years of toil as a helper in Kuwait, continues to haunt her dear and near ones. “The house that she had constructed on a four-cent land using all her savings is now a wreck. It was hard to see her weeping helplessly on seeing her dream lost in flood waters,” says Ummer Saidutty, another villager in the area.
Landslips
The multiple landslip that had shaken this village on August 8 was the second shocker in the district after the Karinchola landslip claiming 14 lives during this monsoon season. The humble savings, including gold and liquid cash of many families were washed away. Over the past 20 years, the district has lost 30 people in four major landslips in its hilly tracts.
“We cannot leave this place in the name of safety all of a sudden as we have spent decades here to build our lives,” says Joseph Devassia, a settler farmer at Kannappankundu. “Instead of forcing us to leave, let the authorities stop the dangerous quarrying work in the high-range zones,” he says.
The over-exploited Western Ghat continues to be a powder keg for the settler families with the presence of over 115 granite quarries. William Paulose, leader of a local environment protection committee in Mukkom, says no step to prevent landslips would be fruitful in the district unless the authorities restrain the illegal quarrying in the ecologically sensitive areas.
“The foothills of the district would turn into graveyards if we fail to act, and quickly,” he warns.