Wayanad landslides: Class 8 students had predicted the disaster last year; also wrote a story for her school magazine
Wayanad Landslides: In an eerie twist of fate, a story penned by a schoolgirl in Kerala seemingly predicted the catastrophic landslides that recently devastated Wayanad, resulting in the loss of over 300 lives and leaving over 200 injured.
"If it rains, landslides will hit the waterfall, engulfing everything in their path, including human lives," wrote the Class 8 student, Laya, in her school magazine last year. Her words became a haunting reality when the landslides struck, flattening her hometown of Chooramala and burying Government Vocational Higher Secondary School in Vellarmala under debris. Tragically, Laya also lost her father in the disaster, according to a report by the Indian Express.
Laya's story, titled "Agrahathinte Duranubhavam" (The Misery of Desire), depicted a girl who drowns in a waterfall and returns as a bird to warn two friends of impending danger. In the tale, the bird urges the friends, Anaswara and Alamkrita, to leave the waterfall area immediately, thus saving them from the landslide that ensues.
The landslides first struck at 2 am on Tuesday, followed by another at 4:10 am, causing widespread destruction in areas like Meppadi, Mundakkai, and Chooramala, isolating communities and washing away roads.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held a high-level meeting in Wayanad to address the crisis, prioritising rescue operations and planning for swift rehabilitation. Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad's MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, described the disaster as a "terrible tragedy" and called for an urgent comprehensive action plan to manage the aftermath.
- With inputs from agencies
