Daring rescue saved tribespeople

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When the state was being ravaged by flood and recurring landslides, forest department officials had made use of coracles and bamboo bridges and even ropes to reach out to and rescue not just people in towns and villages but also scores of those stranded in tribal settlements in various districts.
Konni forest division employed 16 coracles as first resort when they came to know about the flood. Seventeen trained rowers of Vanasamrakshana Samithi were deployed from August 14 and they had to work without a break, battling strong currents to rescue nearly 2,100 people in Thiruvalla and Kozhencherry. “Coracles from our eco-tourism project at Adavi were used to go to interior areas like the Avanipara tribal settlement. Our rowers were trained and the coracles were the best options available,” said K N Syam Mohanlal, Konni DFO.

Coracles came handy to rescue labourers who were trapped inside forest at Naduvathummozhi as well.

At Munnar, which was completely cut off, forest officers worked with district administration and police with wireless sets at the local police station. A major challenge was re-establishing connectivity on roads amid recurring landslides.

“We had to make the roads motorable as there were tourists and other people trapped inside. We were completely cut off, none of us could either move in or go out for three days,” said S Narendra Babu, Munnar DFO.

The team had managed to procure supplies from Tamil Nadu and distribute them at tribal colonies.

In Edamalakkudy, around 250 families were isolated on one side of the settlement and the authorities had to transport seven tonnes of rice from Palakkad to Valppara. From there, trekkers in the area volunteered to carry the supplies to the other end. Rucksacks were loaded with rice and around 600kg of rice were transported to tribal settlements by the trekkers who trudged 10km of forest path.

Palakkad forest team had branched out its men and material resources under three divisions: Agali, Nilambur and Nenmara. The team carried elders in a tribal settlement at Cherunelli in cloth cradles traversing 9km through forest.

“One of our stations, Kadappara was converted as a relief camp and we also ran a camp for 61persons from tribal colonies in Nilambur,” said Sheik Hyder Hussain, CCF (eastern region).

The team under Nilambur division made a bamboo bridge to establish connectivity between Vettilapally and Moolappara. “With frequent occurrence of landslides and heavy rain, we immediately rescued many tribal colonies to safe places,” said Yogesh Warkad, Nilambur North DFO.