A major landslip occurred at the Puthukkady estate at Chenduvara, near Munnar, around 11.30 p.m. on Friday. A temple and a shop came under debris and many vehicles were destroyed.
No human casualties were reported. Officials immediately shifted around 450 people from nearby layams (workers’ quarters) to safer places. Vehicular movement along the Munnar-Vattavada route was affected after huge boulders and mud rolled down from the shola forest located at a height of around one kilometre on the Top Station. Vattavada, Chenduvara, Chittuvara, and Top Station remained cut off.
According to officials, there were nearly 150 families in the Puthukkady estate. “Some families have been shifted to a relief camp opened at the govt. school in Chenduvara,” said Kavitha V., president of the Devikulam panchayat and member representing the Kundala ward. Some families moved to their relatives’ houses, said officials.
Devikulam MLA A. Raja said that debris removal was in progress. Devikulam Subcollector Rahul Krishna Sharma visited the spot and reviewed the situation. Velayudhan, vice president of Vattavada grama panchayat, said that the continuing rain was hampering the work to remove the huge boulders that landed on the Munnar-Vattavada route. “Life in estates at Chittuvarai and Ellapetti have also been hit,” he said.
