MEPPADI: Other than Velayudhan PT (62), no other person would have visited all the houses of the now-lost village of Mundakkai in Kerala’s Wayanad. The sexagenarian — who has three years of service left — visited the village on Tuesday for the first time after the tragedy to find no trace of the post office he had been working at for more than three decades.
Hailing from Pattambi in Kerala’s Palakkad district, Velayudhan came to Mundakkai at the age of 29 after being instated as the postman in the village, that now bears no trace of the houses he would deliver letters to or the narrow streets and walkways he would traverse.
“The post office is gone; there are no houses left for me to deliver letters, except a few that lie abandoned. Chances of the post office being re-established are slim. Moreover, we cannot say now where the new promised township to rehabilitate the victims will be set up,” said Velayudhan.
Velayudhan said his life had become intertwined with those of the villagers.
“After coming here, I became one of them and settled down at Chooralmala, where I built a house 13 years ago. We shared close bonds with the villagers and many of them would visit our house during festivals and invite us to theirs. It was heart-wrenching to learn that the people with whom we closely interacted for decades have died in masses,” he said.
Velayudhan said he had not visited Mundakkai in the past six days as he would not have been able to bear the sight. “There are not many things left standing. I, too, am on an equal footing as the house which I had built after years of toil is gone without a trace, though our lives have been spared,” he said.
The family had a narrow escape as they managed to run out of their house seeing the rubble flow ripping through the neighbourhood.
Hailing from Pattambi in Kerala’s Palakkad district, Velayudhan came to Mundakkai at the age of 29 after being instated as the postman in the village, that now bears no trace of the houses he would deliver letters to or the narrow streets and walkways he would traverse.
“The post office is gone; there are no houses left for me to deliver letters, except a few that lie abandoned. Chances of the post office being re-established are slim. Moreover, we cannot say now where the new promised township to rehabilitate the victims will be set up,” said Velayudhan.
Velayudhan said his life had become intertwined with those of the villagers.
“After coming here, I became one of them and settled down at Chooralmala, where I built a house 13 years ago. We shared close bonds with the villagers and many of them would visit our house during festivals and invite us to theirs. It was heart-wrenching to learn that the people with whom we closely interacted for decades have died in masses,” he said.
Velayudhan said he had not visited Mundakkai in the past six days as he would not have been able to bear the sight. “There are not many things left standing. I, too, am on an equal footing as the house which I had built after years of toil is gone without a trace, though our lives have been spared,” he said.
The family had a narrow escape as they managed to run out of their house seeing the rubble flow ripping through the neighbourhood.
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