Almost two years after a massive landslide ripped through her home, Bushara Mujeeb still feels at sea. Between the grief of losing two dozen family members in the disaster and the struggle of supporting those of them who survived, she knows that things will never quite be the same again. But there is something to look forward to.
She’s been counting down the days till she moves into her new home, built specifically for survivors of the 2024 Wayanad landslide in Kerala. “Since the landslide, organising food, shelter, and clothing has been my biggest preoccupation. We’ve just been living moment to moment, trying to get past that trauma,” she told Mongabay-India in April, sitting in the district headquarters’ community centre.
On July 30, 2024, the three wards of Chooralmala, Punchirimattam, and Mundakkai were washed away within minutes when, upstream of the Punnapuzha river, a cascade of rocks and soil came crashing down after days of relentlessly heavy rain. The landslide destroyed 1,500 homes and killed 266 people. It also wiped away 25 hectares of forest and 600 hectares of agricultural land with coffee, tea, and cardamom plantations, destroying a major source of livelihood for affected families.
Soon after the disaster struck, the erstwhile Left Democratic Front government-led by Pinarayi Vijayan made plans to build a state-of-the-art township to rehabilitate survivors who lost their homes. More than 100 families were handed keys and titles to their new homes in early April this year. “Moving into the new home will be a relief. It’ll be stability of one kind,” Bushara said.
The aftermath of the July 30, 2024 landslide triggered by heavy rain at Chooralmala, photographed in April 2026. Image by Divya Kilikar/Mongabay.
The Hrudayabhoomi cemetery where some victims of the landslide were buried. The landslide washed away Chooralmala, Punchirimattam, and Mundakkai wards in Wayanad district, Kerala, destroying 1,500 homes and killing 266 people. Image by Divya Kilikar/Mongabay.
Though the project promises to be an example of what long-term disaster relief in India could look like, most families have not had the opportunity to move in as it is still under construction. The induction of a new Congress-led government halfway through the project’s completion has led to fresh apprehensions over possible delays in handover.
Agriculture minister and Wayanad MLA T. Siddique told the press that he was convening a sub-committee to oversee the township’s works. “We will clearly define, step by step, everything that needs to be done. No delays will happen. So many delays have already happened, no further delays will happen,” he said last month.
The new township sits in Kalpetta, atop a 64-acre defunct tea estate — Elstone Estate — around 16-20 km from the landslide sites. The silhouette of nearly 200 identical houses stands in place of tea plantations, defining the shape of the hill.
Elstone Estate was selected after a meticulous search involving 31 possible locations across the district. The government was set on Elstone Estate for several reasons — it was centrally located, large enough to house families most directly affected by the landslide, and its slopes were gentle, making construction viable. A scientific committee under the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority used past and future projection data to determine the site’s vulnerability to both floods and landslides — the two most prominent hazards in the district — and found that it was prone to neither.
Acquiring it, however, was not simple. The government took advantage of an overriding provision in the Disaster Management Act to quickly acquire the property, but this was met with legal proceedings by the estate owners. After an almost year-long legal battle, the Kerala High Court ruled in favour of the government on April 11, 2025. Construction of the township began almost immediately after, on April 15, 2025, said Arun J.O., an IAS officer and the township’s Chief Operating Officer.
A total of 410 families, whose homes fell in the no-go landslide and buffer zones, who had no alternative housing arrangements, were included for the township plan. Houses are also being built for 12 Adivasi families close to the landslide site, who did not want to leave their ancestral lands.
So far, 178 two-bedroom homes have been built — equipped with solar panels, a study room, work area, and basic furnishings covered by a 10-year warrant. The houses incorporate disaster resilience within their design: they’re built with concrete sheer walls, wide plinth beams and reinforced framing structures to protect against earthquakes and landslides. About ₹2.6 million (₹26 lakhs) has been invested into each house, a much higher sum than what governments typically provide for housing. For example, after the Gujarat earthquake in 2001, families were provided ₹90,000 for reconstruction. The central government, under the flagship PM Awas Yojana housing scheme, provides subsidies up to ₹180,000 (₹1.8 lakh).
Completed houses at the township against the backdrop of others under construction in Kalpetta, Wayanad. Image by Divya Kilikar/Mongabay.
At Elstone Estate, 178 two-bedroom homes have been completely constructed, equipped with solar panels, a study room, work area, and basic furnishings. Their design incorporates disaster resilience. Image by Divya Kilikar/Mongabay.
“We wanted the township to come up in a central location, not far from commercial activity, so that every facility is accessible to the community,” Arun told Mongabay-India. The government is trying to avoid the mistakes seen in past relocation projects while establishing a new gold-standard for rehabilitation.
In Chennai, for example, communities resettled after the 2005 tsunami were shifted to low-lying apartments in the city’s periphery, which experienced the worst flooding in 2015. The resettlement not only resulted in the ghettoisation of those communities, but also exacerbated losses of livelihood. In Joshimath, a township promised to land subsidence victims in 2023 never materialised. Post-disaster reconstruction in Bhuj after the 2001 earthquake is often cited as a model because residents played a central role in rebuilding their own homes.
In Wayanad, the government decided to relocate all eligible affected families together, after it emerged as the central demand among them. Those who did not want to relocate were given an option to take ₹15 lakhs as a one-time cash transfer and move into any place of their choice. “Throughout our consultations, the survivors expressed a desire to live together as a community,” said Arun.
Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) was appointed to execute the township’s construction, emphasising what’s called a “build back better” approach. Each housing block is built around a community garden space with the intention of facilitating interaction. The complex is also planned to include a disaster shelter, community hall and anganwadi, primary healthcare centre, football ground, and a material recovery and waste management centre.
The instinct of community-based planning has boded well for post-disaster communities in several parts of the world. A Japan-based study of three post-disaster relocation projects in Asia found that communities who were engaged in decision-making experienced “a greater and continued sense of improvement regarding post-relocation living conditions.” Community engagement can “shift the mindset from demotivation… to motivation to work toward resettlement that suits their physical, financial, and socio-cultural needs.”
A sewage treatment plant that has neared completion at the township. Each block also includes a community garden space, disaster shelter, community hall, anganwadi, primary healthcare centre, and football ground. Image by Divya Kilikar/Mongabay.
“We studied several neighbourhood concepts and decided to employ a shared street approach, where houses aren’t built on either side of a road, but where the road network opens up to blocks that are park facing,” said Anees Abdullah, a partner at Think Land, an urban design and architecture consultancy which supported ULCCS. “This design has proven to be safer for children while facilitating interaction and a sense of community,” he added.
Research has shown that when people are separated from their communities for long periods, it can compound stress and instances of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety.
Whether the township’s built environment can recreate that sense of kinship — fractured first by the landslide, and then by the lines drawn around who qualifies for help — is a question that lingers over the project.
Vinita Keyan, who lives right outside the buffer zone of the landslide site with her husband and mother-in-law in Chooralmala, moved back into her home after renting elsewhere proved financially unsustainable. “We aren’t eligible for relocation because our house wasn’t affected. But we live in fear that something will happen,” she said.
For all its ambition, the actual site of the township is populated not by residents, but by construction workers and tourists curious to see the glitzy project. Apart from disaster-resistant housing, the township compound is also seeking certification by the Indian Green Buildings Council to become the country’s first housing colony certified to meet sustainability standards. The idea of a self-sustaining colony for disaster victims has drawn visitors from across the state even before its first residents have moved in.
Tourists flock to the township from all over the state. Image by Divya Kilikar/Mongabay.
Emmanuel Matthew, a 33-year-old tour guide, said that the township had become a regular part of his circuit package alongside the district’s numerous lakes and waterfalls. “People are curious about how the government built these expensive homes, and what is included in them. There’s been a lot of demand to see it over the last few months,” he said.
Roshid K.T. and his wife Shaheen travelled from Calicut to visit the project. “We heard so much about it from the news and others who have visited, so we wanted to come see it for ourselves. It’s impressive. We heard it would be self-sustaining, and include a temple, mosque, and church,” said Roshid, sitting at the foot of the stairs of one of the homes.
The township gained considerable media attention in the lead up to the state assembly elections in April, and inadvertently became a point of competition between parties. After the LDF government unveiled its plans for the ₹350 crore-project in January 2025, the Congress and Indian Union Muslim League followed suit, promising housing projects of their own for survivors.
The Congress raised funds worth ₹5.38 crores and pledged to build 200 houses, but the party hasn’t progressed beyond acquiring five acres of land, triggering a slugfest over how the funds were utilised. The IUML, on the other hand, built 51 fully-furnished, three-bedroom houses within seven months and handed them over to survivors one day before the LDF-led project was officially inaugurated.
Shahjahan, a 48-year-old seafood business owner and survivor of the landslide, opted to move into the IUML housing project instead of the state-sponsored one, joining the rest of his surviving extended family. Out of 410 eligible families, 83, like Shahjahan, decided to take the alternative package. “A lot of empty promises were made but only the Muslim League delivered,” he said.
He, along with his elderly father, K.G. Mohammed, and four other family members survived the landslide with the hairs on their backs. As water gushed into their home in Punjiri village, they ran to higher ground in the dark, through thickets and trees. Mohammed tripped on a boulder while running and fractured his leg. More than 20 other family members perished, and his leg never healed. “What we really miss is the peace and quiet of our home, surrounded by the forest,” said Mohammed. “We’re very happy and grateful for the IUML house, but the next worry for us is stable employment. I’ve not been able to work in our seafood business due to my leg injury,” he said.
K.G. Mohammed at his new home in the IUML township. The seafood business owner suffered a fracture in his leg while trying to escape the landslide in 2024. He shares that over 20 family members perished in the disaster, and that his injury affected his livelihood. Image by Divya Kilikar/Mongabay.
Bushara, meanwhile, continues to live in her rented accommodation in Kalpetta which costs twice the ₹6,000 monthly allowance provided to her by the government.
The government estimates completing the rest of the compound and the remaining 232 houses by October 2026. Longer intervals of displacement are associated with greater socioeconomic declines, and families waiting to move into their new homes are fighting the odds. “What’s lost isn’t coming back. My mother still struggles with coming out of her depression. Returning to that sense of community will help a lot.”
With inputs from Divya Kilikar.
This article was originally published on Mongabay India and has been republished here with permission.