The bodies of 49 people have been retrieved so far, while around 30 are still believed to be missing following the landslide in Munnar’s Pettimudi village on Friday. While a majority of the victims are workers of tea estates and their families, the landslide also came as a tragic blow to Kerala’s Forest Department.
The state Forest Department lost six temporary staff members including a woman in the landslide. The victims are Mayilswami, Ganeshan, Rekha, Raja, Manikandan and Achuthan, who hail from the tea estate layams (housing quarters) in Pettimudi under the Kannan Devan Hills Plantations (KDHP). Out of the six staff members, four are drivers and one was a forest protection watcher, while the woman staffer worked at the Forest Department’s eco-shop.
Eravikulam National Park Range Officer Job J Neriamparampil said, "Mayilswami and Ganeshan were tourist bus drivers of Eravikulam National Park. Raja and Manikandan were the drivers of Munnar Forest Range. Achuthan, father of Raja was a protection watcher and Rekha was working at the eco-shop of the Eravikulam National Park."
"The bodies of Mayilswami (45), Manikandan (22), Achuthan (52) and Raja (35) have been recovered and two are still missing. The Forest Department staff and their family' members also died in the landslide. The forest staff from the Pettimudi settlement were active members of the department and it was a big loss to us," said Neriamparampil.
Forest Department staff members who died in the landslide
Forest Minister K Raju visited the spot on Sunday and said that there were six Forest Department staff from the layams who died in the landslide. "The Forest Department will provide assistance to the families of the victims. The Department will assure all help including the assistance of the education of the family members of the kin," said Raju.
The landslide hit Pettimudi, a village in Munnar Panchayat of Idukki district in the wee hours of Friday. Over 80 people living in four layams in the Nayamakkad tea estate near Rajamala in Munnar were buried under the debris of the landslide. The victims were workers of tea estates, many who hailed from Tamil Nadu and had migrated to Idukki.
News of the horrific tragedy came to light only hours later when locals reached the Forest Department check-post at Rajamala and informed officials around 6.30am. Eravikulam National Park Range officer Job J Neriamparampil led the Forest Department team to reach the spot first and begin the rescue operations.