While Kerala recovers from the aftermath of the floods, a report in The Times of India states 242 geological events that have hit Wayanad alone, in the form of landslides, landslips and land subsidence.
A landslide was reported in the district in the wee hours of Monday, at Kurichiarmala, under the Kalpetta forest range, near the Pookode Navodaya School, according to this Deccan Chronicle report.
Scroll describes the ferocity of the landslide and says that it wreaked havoc in the region, destroying hundreds of acres of forest land and tea plantations, five houses, and many livestock.
The building at Pookode School was all but destroyed, and the district administration of the region decided to ask the education department and gram panchayat officials to scout for a new location for a fresh building.
The students would still lose out, as they had nowhere to go in the interim, no temporary school.
It was then that the local mosque committee stepped in, and offered its madrasa building, just a kilometre away from the damaged school, as a temporary location.
A group of 40 volunteers got to the task and ensured that the area’s kids were able to start attending school from August 29th, without further delay.
The madrasa building is a bare-bones structure, with an unused first floor, which the villagers and volunteers with their limited resources, equipped with school items, an essential upgrade for the kids who were to attend.
An art director in the film industry, and the leader of the volunteer group, Anees Nadodi, told Scroll that all items needed for setting up the school like bricks, tables and chairs, books and shelves, were all procured in a day.
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The volunteers and villagers worked tirelessly for 72 hours to make the space suitable for use as a primary school. Walls were constructed and plastered, whiteboards were installed, classrooms got mats and cheerful murals, and the corridor got plants.
Nadodi thanks the people of Kuichiarmala for the initiative, and for giving the volunteers meals and accommodation. He said the objective of the group was to help kids overcome the trauma of the landslide.
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The temporary school came up on August 29th, officially opened by the district collector. The function was celebrated with much gaiety, with volunteers putting up a song and dance routine.
Thankfully, these kids won’t miss out on an education in the temporary school, thanks to the mosque committee!
(Edited by Shruti Singhal)
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