WAYANAD: Their occupations took them away from their cherished Chooralmala in Kerala's Wayanad, but their work also brought them back to the village - now a ravaged relic of the July 30 landslide. NDRF personnel Jithil Jayan, his brother and Army JCO Jinosh Jayan, and their cousin Havildar Praveen Prakash are part of the teams searching for signs of life, and bodies, under wrecked buildings and mounds of mud and stones in the village they were born.
Their cousin Jagadeesh, his wife Saritha and their son Sharan perished in the disaster. The bodies of Jagadeesh and Sharan were found, but Saritha remains missing.
"I had never imagined I would have to conduct search and rescue operations in my village... Our house narrowly escaped being hit by the landslide. It is a harrowing experience to sift through houses of people whom we know. I saw bodies of my close friends," said Jithil.
‘Never imagined I would have to conduct rescue ops in my village’The 37-year-old Jithil, deployed in Alappuzha as part of an NDRF team following heavy rain, moved to Chooralmala after informing his duty officer of the tragedy.
His brother Jinosh, 42, attached to the Army’s artillery wing in Aurangabad, and 38-year-old cousin Praveen from Madras Engineering Group arrived in Chooralmala Wednesday.
“I had never imagined that I would have to conduct search and rescue operations in my own village... Our house narrowly escaped being hit by the landslide. It is a harrowing experience to sift through the houses of people whom we know well. I saw the bodies of my close friends Sreelesh, Lenin, and Sumesh,” said Jithil, who last visited Chooralmala in May.
Despite the emotional toll, Jithil said his familiarity with the landscape aided the search efforts.
“When in doubt, I called my friends and asked them who all were in the house and how many were missing. Also, I could help in identifying some eight bodies recovered from Mundakkai with the help of a local boy,” he said.
Jithil mused over the unique attachment villagers have to their home.
“I had been part of the NDRF teams that did rescue operations during the Tuticorin and Chennai floods, but the scale of destruction in our village is beyond all that,” he said.
Start a Conversation
Post comment