Tribal people from hamlet in Keralam’s Malappuram live in makeshift sheds seven years after flood

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Seven years after a flood in 2019, members of the Vaniyampuzha tribal hamlet are still living under plastic sheets. | Photo Credit: Sakeer Hussain

The river was rising fast. There was no time toeven gather their belongings. Men, women and children ran uphill into the dark forest as the Chaliyar river swallowed part of the Vaniyampuzha tribal hamlet in Malappuram district. It was August 8, 2019.

By the time the water receded, their homes were gone. The bridges were washed away, cutting them off from the mainland. They thought they would return home. Seven years later, they are still living under plastic sheets. At night, the forest turns pitch dark. There is no electricity. Elephants move through the settlement. Leopards stalk goats and dogs. Women here are forced to wait until dark to venture into the bushes to relieve themselves.

For the 26 tribal families of the Vaniyampuzha tribal hamlet, the temporary shelter has become a permanent address.

A couple of years later, half the families moved downhill, splitting Vaniyampuzha into upper and lower hamlets. Together, they now number 161: 70 members above and 91 below. Their old settlement lies where the Vaniyampuzha river, descending from the Wayanad hills, meets the Chaliyar river. The flood destroyed several houses; those that survived remain empty. No family has returned. The hamlet has been declared unfit for habitation. So they stayed on the hill.

“There is still a risk,” says Babu P., a forest watcher. “Parts of the hills could come down. We have seen how devastating floods can be.” There is also a belief among the tribespeople that returning to a deserted home brings bad luck. The abandoned anganwadi and badal school still stand, now play spaces for children.

The flood also destroyed two concrete bridges linking Vaniyampuzha and the neighbouring hamlets of Tharippappotti, Thandankallu, Iruttukuthy and Kumbalappara to Munderi on the mainland. For years, bamboo rafts were the only way across In the monsoon, the swollen river became a gamble. Pregnant women, patients and children had to be carried across. At times, even Fire and Rescue Services personnel could not cross the river.

“We depended solely on bamboo rafts to cross the river,” says Sudha V.K., an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA). “Now we are used to it. But when the river gets swollen, we know the risk.”

A new bridge is ready after seven years, still awaiting inauguration. “We don’t have any security. After seven years, the only thing we received was a bridge,” says Gireesh S., a rubber tapper.

Children from Vaniyampuzha and neighbouring hamlets attend schools at Munderi, Nettikkulam and Pothukal. | Photo Credit: SAKEER HUSSAIN

But it will not solve the problems upstream. Tharippappotti and Kumbalappara each have more than 20 families. Tharippappotti and Vaniyampuzha are home mainly to Paniya tribespeople; Kumbalappara has Kattunaikar families.

A frail hanging bridge links Vaniyampuzha and Tharippappotti. “I don’t know whether it will withstand another severe monsoon,” says Vishnu V.K., a labourer. For residents of Tharippappotti and Kumbalappara, serious illness still means being carried through the forest.

Housing remains a bigger struggle. After leaving the old hamlet, the families from Vaniyampuzha sought new land; but technical hurdles emerged since they already had land recorded in their names. “Because receiving land got delayed, house too has been delayed,” Babu says.

Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) officer Vipin Das Y. says the Record of Rights, an official document on ownership, tenancy, and financial liabilities of land, has been cleared for 39 families in Vaniyampuzha and Tharippappotti, and special sanction has been sought to build houses. “We have submitted a ₹2.46-crore housing proposal, and it is expected to be cleared soon,” he says.

Anil Kumar Babu, a member of Pothukal panchayat, says he is pushing for the work to begin. “I am doing my best to help people. We expect to begin work on the houses in a few months,” he says.

The Public Works department (PWD) has prepared a road project for Tharippappotti, while a bridge across the Vaniyampuzha river is under proposal.

Meanwhile, the families are growing. “We are looking forward to safe houses for our children, who want to set up homes of their own after marriage,” says Sudha. “We hope we will have them soon.”

Soon after the flood, voluntary organisations supplied tarpaulin sheets and other relief materials. The families say they received more help from them than the government.

“We have changed the tarpaulin sheets several times,” says Satheesh V.K, rubber plantation worker.

But plastic offers little protection. In summer, the shelters become unbearably hot. “It is very hot even at night,” Sudha says. “Sometimes we sleep outside with our children in spite of the dangers.”

Before the flood, the families had houses with electricity. They lost both homes and power in 2019. Soon after the disaster, the Subcollector promised electricity through underground cables. Nothing came of it.

“What we get is often promises and promises, and nothing else,” Satheesh says.

Then came a bitter reminder of the old life: a Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) power bill, months after the flood had destroyed their homes. “We were startled by the bill. We had to get the ward member intervene to address that issue,” says Vishnu.

Today, mobile phones are lamps. Those without torches use their phones until the batteries die. To charge them, the residents have to walk half a kilometre to the Vaniyampuzha forest station.

The families live in an elephant corridor. Elephants sometimes break through electric fences and enter areas where residents try to grow crops. “We cannot cultivate anything,” Babu says. “The electric fencing is not perfect. Elephants break it.”

In June 2025, a 56-year-old tribal man, Billy, was killed in an elephant attack. The swollen river prevented immediate medical help. Even Fire and Rescue Services personnel could not cross the river using their dinghy because of the strong current.

Leopards are another threat. “My dog was like a child to me,” Sudha says. “A leopard took it away from next to me while I was sleeping.”

The families say leopards have not attacked people. But they remain wary after dark.

The lack of toilets is another daily indignity. “Our men can somehow manage in the bushes,” Sudha says. “But women have to wait until night. It is extremely difficult.”

The issue reached the Kerala High Court after the intervention of Aryadan Shoukath, now MLA of Nilambur. Following the court’s intervention, ITDP installed a bio-toilet each at Vaniyampuzha and Tharippappotti in 2024. They have since become unusable.“They are already full,” says Pushpa,43. “So we have no choice but to go in the open.”

Senior Civil Judge M. Shabir Ibrahim had visited the hamlet after the court intervention. “It was terrible. We tried everything possible to help them out,” he says.

Water is another problem. Wells are being constructed, but work remains incomplete. At times, families have to move to places where water is available.

The crisis has followed the children into school. Children from the hamlets attend schools at Munderi, Nettikkulam and Pothukal. Transport remains difficult; efforts are being made to take them by tractor to the new bridge.

But getting children to school is only part of the problem. “The dropout rate is very high,” Vishnu says.

Babu says many parents need greater awareness about education. The families cite alcohol as a major reason for dropouts. “Many parents drink and fight in front of their children,” Sudha says. “Some children have stopped going to school because of the quarrels at home. Repeated awareness sessions are a must.”

Some children stay in hostels at Model Residential Schools in Nilambur and Wayanad. Others return home and struggle to go back. Some attend only two or three periods before returning.

The deadly 2024 landslides at Mundakkai and Chooralmala in Wayanad revived the terror of 2019. Human remains from the disaster were washed ashore. “That was a terrible time,” Gireesh says.

The residents know what it means to wait for help. In August 2019, while the world focussed on the Kavalappara tragedy, where 59 people were buried alive, Vaniyampuzha had remained cut off.

“We had seen helplessness and hunger then,” Sudha says. “We had no food. No communication.”

Water is another problem in the tribal hamlets. At times, families have to move to places where water is available. | Photo Credit: SAKEER HUSSAIN

Seven years later, the bridge is ready. They are still waiting for houses. There is still no electricity, usable toilet or reliable water. Children continue to drop out of schools. Families still sleep beneath plastic sheets in a forest that was never meant to be their home.

Sudha wants those who make decisions about their lives to spend one night there. “Let a government official or a responsible person stay with us at night,” she says. “They will feel the difference. They will experience what we feel and undergo.”

The people of Vaniyampuzha are not asking to reclaim the houses the river destroyed. They want safe homes, electricity, water and toilets. They want their children to stay in school. They want to cross the river without fear.

Seven years after the flood, the bridge has finally arrived. But the families living under the plastic sheets are still waiting for safe homes.

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