On July 30, the hilly district of Wayanad, particularly around Meppadi taluk, observed remembrance, recalling the tragic Chooralmala-Mundakkai landslides that claimed 298 lives and left over 40 people missing a year ago. The disaster swept away four villages, leaving behind a trail of grief and destruction.
An all-religion prayer meeting was held in the morning at the Meppadi village council, attended by numerous religious leaders and locals. Prayers were offered at the common grave site where many victims of the natural disaster are interred. The Kerala Police honored the departed with a guard of honour, marking the first anniversary of the tragedy.
The landslides caused extensive damage: 145 homes were completely destroyed, 170 were partially damaged, 240 were declared uninhabitable, and 183 were washed away entirely. Wayanad Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi shared a heartfelt message on social media, addressing her constituents. Here is what she wrote:
My Dear Sisters and Brothers,
A year has passed since the terrible tragedy that changed your lives inalterably. The pain and loss of that day will remain seared in your hearts for always. As your representative, and someone who has received immeasurable love from you, someone who has watched you face your loss with great courage, I pay my deepest respects to you today. I am sorry that the session of parliament prevents me from being with you on this day that is so important to all of us. My heartfelt prayers are with you and I stand right beside you in spirit as you mark this day with faith and remembrance.
I was not your MP when this tragedy struck, but it is from that moment, when I visited with my brother, that I began to understand the nature of Wayanad, and its people. I met people who had lost everything, but still had the courage to keep faith. People who helped each other and stood by each other without asking for anything in return. Homes, lives, and livelihoods destroyed, but the human spirit soaring in its dignity and resilience.
I met Hani, and Lavanya and Shruti and so many others, who like them, embarked on the journey of rebuilding their lives even though they had lost everything. I saw how communities can work together, helping and supporting each other in the most trying circumstances. In your pain, you were a shining example to the whole nation an example of love, brotherhood and everything good that humanity represents.
Many of you opened your hearts and homes to those who were suffering, providing them with safety and sustenance amidst their devastation. Some of you helped with rescue efforts, venturing deep into the forest through dangerous terrain day after day in search for those who were missing. I remember noticing long lines of volunteers, when I came here in those days, young men and women, standing in the rain, their legs covered in mud, volunteering tirelessly to shelter the victims of the landslide.
A lot has been done to help rebuild the lives of those who suffered during this year. Yet there is still much that remains to be done. Even with all the goodwill across political lines and the help that poured in from all parts of the nation, basic, systemic issues have slowed down the process of rehabilitation considerably.
Many have overcome the devastation they faced by valiantly rebuilding their lives but many still remain in desolation. Women suffered immensely, as did children. Especially those who lost every member of their family. They still need our help, they still need the hope of a better future to hold them up and we must continue to do all that is in our power to provide them with support.
As we work towards fulfilling the promise of a fair and just rehabilitation process, it is important for all of us to remember that it was our will to work together as a community regardless of our differences, that supported those in pain last year. That spirit of togetherness and community must continue to prevail. It will continue give those who suffered strength and courage. As we help them walk away from the darkness the disaster wrought, into the light of a happier future, let us reaffirm our duty towards each other.
Those who are no longer with us, will forever remain in our hearts. Those of you who lost loved ones carry the bonds of the love, laughter and happiness you shared with them in every moment that you live. In the new things you experience, in the small things, and big things that you live through, in the places life takes you, they still belong just as they did when they were by your side. It is to them that you owe the hope of living a full life again, of being able to laugh and love and carry on the way they would have wished you to
I will continue to do all I can to support you through your journey to rebuild your lives and I am deeply honoured that you have given me the chance to do so.
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