Sombre silence in Wayanad relief camps as displaced persons stare at uncertain future

WAYANAD: The sombre silence in the relief camps at Meppadi in Kerala's Wayanad is occasionally pierced by the anguished cries of those who lost everything in the devastating landslide that struck the region last Tuesday.

The survivors find themselves grappling with unimaginable loss.

They have been stripped of everything they once held dear. Their homes, painstakingly built with savings accrued over a lifetime, are now reduced to rubble.

Many have lost their loved ones, and it has left them with nothing but memories of what their life once was.

As survivors seek refuge in the state government-run camps, they realise that their lives have been fractured beyond repair.

Many sit with blank expressions, their vacant eyes staring ahead as if into an uncertain future.

"I don't know what to do. We lost everything we had. All we have is what we are wearing right now," a survivor says, sobbing inconsolably.

The air at the camps is rent with the sorrowful cries of mothers who mourn their children, fathers grieving for their sons and daughters, and families enduring the pain of losing their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

The scale of the loss is beyond comprehension to them as they ponder where to begin their future, which looks bleak, as they have nothing to start over with.

The state government has set up around 17 relief camps near Meppadi, where 2,597 people from 707 families affected by the destructive landslide in Mundakkai, are housed.

A total of 91 camps have been opened across the district, housing 9,977 people from 2,981 families, a state government release said.

To help the survivors cope with their loss, the state government has formed a Mental Health Disaster Management team to provide psychosocial support to the survivors.

Over 210 people lost their lives, and almost as many are still missing in the disaster.

A 121-member team of psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers and counsellors is working round-the-clock to provide mental health support to the survivors in relief camps and to those are admitted in various hospitals.

The team is also providing counselling to health workers and rescue workers, as well as the police, revenue officials, local self-government officials, and others who are facing the harrowing aftermath of the disaster.

The state government has formed a cabinet sub-committee of four ministers to oversee the search-and-rescue operation.

The ministers, who met the media on Friday, have asked the public and the media not to make unnecessary visits to the camps and to respect the privacy of the displaced persons.

"The camps have nodal officers and other officials, including necessary medical teams. Special care is being taken to ensure (the availability of) good food and neatness inside the relief centres," the ministers said.

On Friday, three days after the disaster, the rescue workers found 14 dead bodies, of which three were recovered from Malappuram district.

Until now, a total of 210 dead bodies have been recovered, which includes those of 85 women, 96 men, and 29 children.

The government has issued special guidelines to cremate the unidentified bodies.

Several people remain missing, and rescue workers are battling adverse conditions, including waterlogged soil, as they search through destroyed homes and buildings looking for survivors and bodies.