The devastating floods of 2018 and 2019 gave the State authorities many lessons. One of them was to equip tribal youth with necessary skills needed to handle natural calamities, including floods.
As many as 101 tribespeople from different hamlets in the Nilambur forest were among the 4,300 people given training in disaster response in the State as part of a nation-wide programme named Aapda Mitra (meaning friends during disasters).
Special attention was given to train youth from the hamlets of Punchakkolli, Mancheeri, Alakkal, Mundakkadavu, and Nedumkayam in Nilambur forest largely because of their inaccessibility. Reaching those hamlets in times of disasters will not be easy.
