Seven years on, Kavalappara hill still holds its dead

As darkness falls on Muthappan Kunnu, Kavalappara, a concrete road weaves through the hill, now partly intact but slippery. Abandoned houses dot the landscape, surrounded by thick undergrowth. Wild animals have become more prevalent, and rubber tappers now work only during daylight, avoiding the hill alone. Eerie silence blankets the abandoned settlement, with eleven victims of the 2019 landslide still entombed beneath the mud.

The landslide struck on August 8, 2019, at 7:55 p.m., after two days of non-stop rain. Fifty-nine people lost their lives, with only 48 bodies recovered over 19 days of search efforts. The catastrophe destroyed approximately 34 acres of land and displaced 84 families, with all but 18 houses reduced to rubble. The remaining structures were later evacuated after the government deemed the area uninhabitable.

Seven years later, the hill stands largely deserted, with vegetation reclaiming the abandoned settlement. Survivors, however, are still grappling with the aftermath. V.R. Jayan, who was swept away by the mud, is still under treatment for broken ribs and severe foot injuries that required a skin graft. His pain persists, as do the mental scars.

Poothani Abdul Kareem suffered a broken leg, while his wife perished in the landslide. He has since remarried but remains haunted by the traumatic night. Rehabilitation efforts provided new homes for displaced families, but the trauma remains fresh. NRI industrialist M.A. Yusuf Ali contributed ₹1.20 crore towards constructing 33 houses, while P.V.

Abdul Wahab, MP, contributed to rehabilitation efforts. The government provided the land, and later built 27 houses for Scheduled Tribe families and 24 for general category families.

Yet, many residents still avoid returning to Kavalappara, which now resembles a deserted settlement. Jayan laments that "people have started forgetting the tragedy," emphasizing that only those who experienced its pain and fury cannot forget it. The social worker M.S. Dileep notes that the residents do not wish to reopen old wounds.

Much of the land remains unusable, with 33 farmers seeking a solution for 30 acres of land. After the government failed to act, they moved the High Court, which recommended compensation for the rest of the unusable land. The government has yet to grant permission, and the survivors continue to seek a resolution. Despite the land's uninhabitability, the government still collects land tax, a fact that irks Jayan.

He hopes the new government will take over the land to use it for farming or establish a herbal garden. To the survivors, Muthappan Kunnu is more than just a hill; it is where their homes once stood, where their loved ones vanished, and where the ground beneath them changed forever.