In the shadow of the Western Ghats, where mist-shrouded hills once cradled verdant tea estates, the village of Chooralmala clings to survival a year after a catastrophic landslide ravaged Wayanad district, claiming 298 lives across Mundakkai and Chooralmala on July 30, 2024. Families on the fringes of the government-declared "no-go zone" endure daily anxiety, mere metres from the restricted epicentre, as monsoon echoes revive fears of recurrence in this ecologically fragile region prone to such disasters due to heavy deforestation and seismic vulnerabilities. While Mundakkai remains a ghost of its former self—accessible only via a 190-foot Bailey bridge erected by the Indian Army for rescue operations—residents here plead for relocation, highlighting the human cost of incomplete rehabilitation amid Kerala's broader push for sustainable rebuilding.

The 2024 disaster, triggered by relentless monsoon rains exceeding 500 mm in 48 hours, unleashed debris flows at 57 m/s, obliterating homes, schools, and infrastructure in these twin hamlets, displacing over 10,000 people and stranding 400 families after the Iruvanjippuzha River's diversion. Today, Mundakkai's eerie desolation—punctuated by half-buried vehicles, locked homes awaiting impossible returns, and grieving visitors offering prayers—contrasts sharply with Chooralmala's tentative normalcy. Entry to the core zone is barred, with brief passes for former residents to salvage belongings until 3 p.m., enforced to prevent further risks. The Geological Survey of India's FIR underscored the event's ferocity, leaving economic scars:Harrison's Malayalam lost 25 acres of tea plantations yielding ₹3.5 crore annually, and over 150 cattle perished, compounding livelihoods for the 41 estate workers and families killed or missing.

For survivors like K. Hamsa, a 54-year-old tea plucker from Chooralmala, the trauma lingers palpably. Having lost his sister, brother-in-law, and niece, Hamsa lives in perpetual dread on the no-go boundary. "We wake each morning wondering if the next rain will bury us. The danger feels imminent, yet we're ineligible for relocation," he shared, echoing a chorus of pleas from neighbours like Sudheer M., 48, who now ferries children 13 km to makeshift schools in Meppadi after two local institutions were wiped out. Ummer, 62, another estate labourer, urged expanding the vulnerable zone: "The government must heed us before it's too late." These voices underscore a recovery marred by "anniversary reactions"—heightened anxiety and PTSD-like symptoms affecting 2,200 survivors, addressed through Kerala's mobile psychiatry units.

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State efforts, while commendable, face scrutiny on the first anniversary, marked July 30, 2025, with sombre tributes led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Revenue Minister K. Rajan, and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) has amassed ₹770.76 crore as of June 2025, disbursing ₹91.73 crore for rehab, including adding 49 beneficiaries to the Elstone Estate township in Kalpetta—the foundation was laid by Vijayan in March with Gandhi present. This 64-hectare model village will feature 1,000 sq ft single-storey homes on seven-cent plots along the Kalpetta bypass, prioritising the displaced. Rajan assured PTI that appeals from fringe residents are under dual review, with the principal secretary set for on-site assessments. "Our priority is welfare; others may access separate schemes or compensation," he said, as the State Disaster Management Authority weighs geological reports warning of persistent risks.

Yet, as Chooralmala's residents navigate this limbo—balancing tea estate toil with evacuation drills—the anniversary exposes gaps:Only 4.8% of the ₹763.16 crore relief fund has been allocated by June 2025, per audits, amid calls for holistic eco-restoration. With over 600 students back in relocated classes and businesses shuttered at ₹25 crore losses, the valley's despair lingers, a poignant reminder that true resilience demands not just bridges but bolder safeguards against nature's wrath.

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