Wayanad ground report | Kerala learns a lesson from leaking roofs: No charity in disaster rehab

On August 8, 2019, Sulekha PA, then 55 years old, lost her husband Aboobacker to the Puthumala landslides. Although they had been evacuated before the landslide, Aboobacker decided to return to their house to retrieve their goats and was caught by a catastrophic mud flow. His body was never found.

Sulekha now lives with her son Ashkar and his family. Ashkar gave up his job in the Middle East after his father’s death. They currently live in the Harsham (Happiness and Resilience Shared Across Meppadi) housing, a project undertaken to rehabilitate survivors of the 2019 landslide.

Fifty-three families have been rehabilitated in Poothakolly near Meppadi, where the government provided the land, and various charity and welfare organisations built the houses. The land in Poothakolly was donated by the media house Mathrubhumi after the landslides.

Leaking roofs

“The house we received is excellent but there is an issue with the leaking roof in the living room. If that could be fixed, we would be completely satisfied. I’m grateful to the government and the organizations that built it, but this needs to be addressed. We did slightly modify the original plan, adding an extended kitchen since we needed an additional bedroom,” Sulekha told The Federal.

The Federal team is in Wayanad to cover the rehabilitation efforts following the landslides of July 30, 2024.

“We have been raising this issue for quite some time, but nothing has been done. We don’t know which organization built the house, and the government department says they are unable to help. If the entire housing project was done by the same group, it would have been easier to raise such concerns. Our house was initially built by one organization, but it was completed by the Malabar Group (the CSR fund of Malabar Gold Jewellers)”, she said.

Another affected family

Jaseela A, 39, her husband Abdul Rasaq, and their two daughters miraculously survived the disaster, even after one of the girls fell into the muddy water. Their elder daughter, who was in Class X then, fell into anxiety-driven depression following the event. She was under treatment for a long time before she eventually got better and is now a degree student.

When The Federal visited their house, the younger girl was at home as it was a holiday. Her school, where she is now in Class X, was being used as a relief camp after the latest Mundakkai tragedy.

Missing compensation

As a construction worker, Abdul Rasaq wanted to build his house himself, but he did not get approval from the authorities. “We had our own plans to build the house. We wanted to have a concrete roof. But the guidelines said that all the houses in the project should be identical in design. Our roof is of asbestos, and when it rains, the sound is horrible, reminding us of the landslide. It is largely a trigger for all of us, especially our daughter,” says Jaseela.

“We did not even get the full amount of Rs 4 lakh under the rehabilitation scheme, and the organisation spent only 3.5 lakh on this house. We did not get the amount for the protective wall on the roadside, as we altered the plan a bit,” added Jaseela.

“The roof of our house is leaking, and I’ve heard that over 40 other houses have the same issue. Since the houses were constructed by various organizations, we can’t approach them for maintenance claims. What we need now is for the government to assist us in fixing this problem,” says Alavikkutty, another resident of the Harsham project.

Poor construction

This has been a recurring issue since the tsunami rehabilitation efforts began in 2005, during which many non-governmental organisations were responsible for constructing houses. There have been numerous complaints about the damage to these houses from subsequent sea surges and monsoon rains. The tsunami rehabilitation project concluded when the constructed houses and flats, along with the land and basic infrastructure, were handed over to the beneficiaries.

The government was considering the possibility of taking over the maintenance of houses and flats built under the tsunami rehabilitation project by incorporating it into the schemes of the fisheries or local self-government departments.

Houses that are doing well

On the other hand, the housing project built by the state government under Mission LIFE (Livelihood Inclusion and Financial Empowerment) for fishermen’s families affected by sea erosion in Thiruvananthapuram is doing well. The complex handed over to the beneficiaries in 2018 includes 192 units, each with two bedrooms, a hall, a kitchen, and a lavatory.

“Since the tsunami, Kerala has faced issues with substandard housing. The government provides land, and some foundations construct homes with poor materials, leading to leaks and maintenance complaints. Here, we are developing a new model: we will identify land, and organisations can choose to either provide funds to the government for construction or build the houses themselves while following government guidelines and strict supervision. We know, this approach is a bit of a gamble; if it succeeds, everyone benefits, but if something goes wrong, the government will be held accountable” K Rajan, the state revenue minister, told The Federal.

Government’s housing plans

“Currently, 2,139 people, belonging to 661 families, are in the camps. We will identify those genuinely in need and provide them with rented accommodations. To facilitate this, the government is locating vacant houses, unnumbered properties, and government apartments and quarters. We will also construct transit and prefab houses,” added the minister.

“Once a world-class township project is completed, these transit houses will be maintained and later used for tourism. The project will include a comprehensive design, not only for the housing but for the entire lifestyle, ensuring that survivors are not left feeling abandoned. It will offer an alternative future for them,” he said.

Complaints about rehabilitation

There are numerous complaints about the rehabilitation project for the Kavalappara landslide victims of 2019. The Kavalappara landslide occurred on the same day as Puthumala and claimed 59 lives and destroyed 128 houses. Half of the survivors are still not permanently rehabilitated. This delay is due to various technical issues, such as the unavailability of land records and identification records of the tribal people.

There was a controversy when some Muslim League workers claimed that their party was solely responsible for the rehabilitation and that the government did nothing. This sparked a war of words between former Minister KT Jaleel and Muslim League leaders.

Muslim League controversy

“Thirty-two houses were built by businessman MA Yousuf Ali on government-provided land, while the government constructed 96 houses in Kavalappara. Who are the beneficiaries of the 10 houses still under construction and claimed to be built by the League? It has been five years since the disaster in Nilambur, yet 10 houses remain unfinished. Are they building another Taj Mahal?” remarked the former minister on his social media handles.

IUML leader PV Abdul Wahab later clarified that his party had not engaged in fund collection for the Kavalappara survivors. “The collection by the party was for flood victims, and 10 houses are being built and will be handed over to deserving beneficiaries soon,” he said.

Such controversies have also prompted the government to tread cautiously when accepting offers of land for rehabilitation.

Fresh government approach

“We have received an offer for 150 acres of land, but it is actually encroached government land in a way. We are not accepting such offers at this point of time. We will make a decision after further consultation. In fact, the government does not require private land for rehabilitation purposes. The revenue department can secure sufficient land for the rehabilitation project by actively pursuing land currently under litigation in land tribunals. We have decided to expedite this process,” revenue minister K Rajan told The Federal.