by Mirudhula Thambiah and Menaka Indrakumar

As the clouds gathered overnight last Tuesday over the hills and a drizzle began in the pre-dawn of Wednesday (29), the country was fast asleep. No one dreamt that it would turn out to be a tragic morning for hundreds of estate sector families.

The tragedy that shook the central hills was the worst to hit Sri Lanka after Tsunami 2004. When the mountain came rolling downhill many villagers in the Koslanda-Meeriyabedda Estate in Haldummulla ran to save their lives. They said, it sounded like an explosion. The thick layer of mud flattened the dwellings and buried the people who were unable to run away.

It was 7:30 in the morning when the Beragala Mountain began to slowly crumble and cracks began to appear in several surrounding mountain slopes. Some villagers were inquisitively observing the changes appearing in the mountain slopes, but the majority were rushing to gather their belongings and run to safety as they had earlier been warned by the Haldummulla Divisional Secretariat officers.

Estate sources said cracks began to appear days before, but most of the villagers had not been in a position to evacuate. On the day of the tragedy, those who had heeded the warning and evacuated to safer areas, had returned to their line houses to collect some more of their belongings to be taken to their shelters as the heavy rain had ceased.

However, suddenly, the mountain started to slowly collapse. Mud flowed down with a crushing force.

The rescue operations that commenced on the day of the disaster have so far excavated six bodies buried underneath the soil. The chance of finding survivors under the mud cover may be bleak, but the operations are continuing nonetheless.

Conditions still bad

According to Central Security Forces Headquarters’ Major General Mano Perera, “The operations are being conducted in extreme weather conditions as the mist, the gloom and the continuous rains hamper the operations. We are unable to go deep as the soil is still wet and the deeper we dig it keeps falling on the rescue workers.”

When asked why search operations have been unable to be conducted after 6:00 p.m. as they could have worn headlights and carried on with the work, he said, “We didn’t want to take the risk of them working in conditions that don’t favour the operations.” It is reported that 38 families that were displaced due to the disaster are being housed in Poonagala Tamil Maha Vidyalaya and over 600 persons, including those evacuated, are being housed in four different relief centres.

Fifty-eight-year-old Selvi, who is in a relief centre, with eyes filled with tears after losing her son and home said, “The distance we have to travel is tiresome and the conditions are not fit for living in the worst hit area. We mourned in silence everyday and the authorities didn’t do anything when we complained about what we were going through. The roads and the houses are terrible; we told them many times but our complaints were never addressed.”

However, the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) said that a warning had been issued regarding a landslide in the specific area and directed the matter to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) and then over to the Divisional Secretariat, to immediately evacuate the Koslanda estate people.

Divisional Secretary of Haldummulla, Chalani Prasadika, told Ceylon Today that alternative shelters were arranged for the villagers who were living under threat. Although some relocated, some refused to leave their homes.

“I joined as the DS three months ago and the other officials and I went to this area several times to warn the people to evacuate the area. We did it with the funds we got, in the best possible way. Some of the people didn’t take the warning seriously and didn’t move from the area, despite us organizing temporary arrangements,” she said.

However, trade unions and political parties operating in the Badulla District denied the claim made by government officials. They pointed out that the Plantation Minister, the Central Government and the Provincial Government as a whole should take the responsibility.

Who is responsible?

Meanwhile, United National Party (UNP) Uva Provincial Councillor, Harin Fernando said, “The authorities are responsible for the wellbeing of the estate sector. They have failed in their duties towards the people of Koslanda. We held meetings here during the election period and I carried a child.

Unfortunately, that child is no more. This area was identified as landslide prone, people were told to go but where can they go? These people weren’t given alternative housing.

“There were no deeds issued to them. The houses were built with tin sheets. There are more than 75 children living without parents. My concern now is about these children. What is their plight? What is going to happen to them?”

When asked about the plantation sector taking money from donors to maintain the locality, he said, “Yes I raised this in Parliament and there were donations given by various other sources, but where has the money gone? The parties concerned have to account for the finances.”

He also said the rescue operations are handled by the army personnel, which is very much appreciated.

Yet, an incident of this magnitude could have been avoided if the authorities had taken necessary action to make sure that the people are not left homeless; their lives wouldn’t have been lost then.

“It is ridiculous for the authorities to ask these victims for identification cards and birth certificates to show proof to get compensation. How does the government think these people will get ID cards and birth certificates when they have lost their everything?” he questioned.

When this area was identified back in 2005 as prone to landslides, which is nine years to be exact, why did the responsible authorities not move these people? They had ample time to relocate them to safer grounds. The people were warned occasionally, but what other alternatives they had? These are questions that need to be answered and something should be done for the victims.

Parliamentarian J. Sri Ranga said the Minister of Plantations should be held responsible for the tragedy in Koslanda, for not giving alternative shelters to the estate people, who were under threat. There was a warning issued by the NBRO to relocate these people from the Koslanda-Meeriyabedda estate in 2011. The Central Government and the provincial government should be held responsible, he said.

“Why is the Plantation Minister given this position if he does not take the necessary steps to safeguard people from danger?” he asked.

MP Ranga further said Minister Palani Digambaram and V. Radhakrishanan took up ministerial portfolios recently and they secured votes from the plantation sector to win elections, but on the day of the incident they failed to visit the affected areas. Ranga said that even the rescue operations were not satisfactory; there were only two heavy vehicles to clear the mud, which were not performing properly.

“These people are the driving force behind our country’s economic growth. They lack housing facilities. The plantation workers are still living in line houses that were built during the British period,” he said.

Caring for the displaced

Meanwhile, General Secretary of the UNP-led trade union, Lanka Jathika Estate Workers’ Union, Parliamentarian K. Velayutham, said the government should take the necessary steps to take care of the displaced people.

“People from the surrounding estates of Koslanda have moved to safer places, but their livelihoods have been disrupted due to the natural calamity. Government officers are only focusing on distributing food items to the people, but they have failed to feed them on time. There are no proper medical facilities provided to the people,” he charged.

Velayutham added that a displaced person from the Koslanda estate fell sick and adequate medical facilities were not provided to him. He also pointed out the low standards of toilet facilities at the shelter camps. He added the government should take serious action to evacuate people from all landslide prone areas and find alternative lowlands to resettle them in comfortable houses.

“President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his agenda, has ordered to put up 50,000 houses in the plantation sector and I feel he should make use of this opportunity to fulfil his promises,” Velayutham added.

Although Minister of Plantation Industries, Mahinda Samarasinghe, was not available for an immediate comment, he said at a recent press conference that he had ordered to evacuate the estate people immediately from the area since the NBRO has issued warnings even before 2011.

He also said this was requested from the plantation sector in 2011 itself, to soon evacuate the people, but it had been ignored and as a result many were affected.

Some seven line rooms were destroyed due to Wednesday’s landslide that occurred in the Koslanda estate in Haldummulla in the Badulla District.

Line houses from No. 7-12 were damaged, including three houses of estate supervisors. Two Hindu temples, two garages, four grocery shops, the house of an estate midwife, the estate ward and two government office buildings were completely destroyed and buried underneath the mud.

Courtesy:Ceylon Today