The most-hardened minds will not be prepared for the sights in Kadungalloor grama panchayat, near Aluva, where the telltale signs of the trail of destruction left behind by the rampaging Periyar are there for everyone to see.
Blackish brown is now the colour scheme of this riverside panchayat as mud is what the river has deposited back in all homes and streets in return for drawing away the life’s possessions of the residents.
As we drove into East Kadungalloor, that bore the brunt of the flood, The Hindu team could see people awash in mud trying to clean their utensils and other possessions using water that appeared as filthy as the stains.
On the left side of a heavily damaged road was a heap of debris where once stood an Ayurveda pharmacy. Ahead was the Kayyantinkara-Eloorkara Road topped with layers of hardened mud, which has literally turned into a ‘falling grounds’ for two-wheeler riders.
As we looked on, an aged couple were thrown off their scooter as it skidded and tumbled. We carried the rider, 55-year-old Ali, to the safety of a nearby house where he sat nursing his injured leg. He and his wife Sainaba were on their way to help clean their daughter’s submerged house in Aluva Thuruthu.
Another motorcycle had a similar fall in a few minutes.
Along the road, strewn with battered motorbikes, cars, trucks and furniture was the house of Kareem, which appeared more like a mudbank. “Water started entering our house on Tuesday evening, but it was only the next evening that we were evacuated on a boat and by which time we had lost all our life’s possessions,” he said.
His neighbour Sudheer has a similar story to share and does not expect things to improve in another three to four months.
“We never expected water to reach us. But then it did and rose to the height of the first floor without leaving us with any time to shift out anything. With the well, our sole source of water, contaminated and no drinking water and power for the past one week, we are left in a living hell,” he said glum-faced.
The trail of destruction continued unabated in the journey. Churches, mosques, temples, government dispensaries, banana crops, nothing was spared of the river’s fury.
As we drove out of Kadungalloor through Muppathadam to reach NH, there remained an overturned promotional board advertising discounts of a gold jewellery shop for Onam. It served as a stark reminder to how in a flash the festive spirit has turned into one of deep depression leaving people to piece together their lives sans any glitter.