Aranayake landslide victims: Buried in unfulfilled promises
Hundreds of residents displaced due to the landslide at Samsara Kanda in Aranayake were compelled to spend their National New Year in welfare camps this year. There were no Avurudu sweetmeats for them. The residents spent the day in tents. Living in the shadow of the deadly mountain, they wonder when they would ever be able to move into a permanent home.
Over 4,000 people were displaced by the Aranayake landslide on May 17, 2016. Thirty-one died, while six others are still listed as missing. The landslide destroyed 72 houses. A further 288 houses suffered partial damage.
By late May, 4,291 people from 1,426 families had been displaced. They were relocated to 23 welfare camps.
The National Building Research Organisation recommended the relocation of 571 families living in the danger zone prone to landslides.
Today, almost a year after the disaster, 469 families continue to remain in either temporary tents or semi-permanent houses, according to Aranayake Divisional Secretary Z.A.M. Faizal. Only 62 houses have so far been built for the displaced. Most of the houses have been built by private foundations. The Sri Lanka Red Cross is to build a further 100 houses for the victims in four stages, while the Chinese Government is to also to build a further 100 houses, the Divisional Secretary explained.
Mr. Faizal said the Government has also allocated Rs.1.2 million each for 100 families as compensation.
The displaced however, complain that though they have lived at the welfare camps for 11 months now, authorities have been lethargic. Construction of most houses was yet to begin while compensation was also slow in coming, they charge.
There have been further complaints regarding the alleged uneven distribution of monthly rations for the displaced.
Meanwhile, survivors continue to suffer from deep psychological scars as they grapple with the reality of living without their loved ones.
At the camp set up on the playground of the Hathgampala Vidyalaya, K.G. Piyasena, 62, told us that he was the only one in his family to survive the landslide. His son, daughterin-law and two grandsons, aged 15 and seven, all died that day.
Mr. Piyasena, originally from the village of Siripura in Elangapitiya, said he had only survived because he was at a nearby shop that evening. “I heard a sound like the crash of a helicopter. When I rushed back, the entire area was covered with rubble and earth. I lost all my children,” he said, voice choking with emotion. “My two grandsons would wait for me in the evenings for me to bring them sweets. I have no one to buy sweets for now. I feel so alone now. I can’t imagine why this happened to people like us.”
H.P. Chandrika Priyadarshani, 33, remains distraught at having to live without her two children. It had been raining heavily for several days before the tragedy. The embankment near their house collapsed due to the rain and she said they had temporarily shifted to her aunt’s house further down the mountain.
“My brother called on the morning of the 17th and said he was coming from Kandy. I tried to tell him not to come because of the heavy rain but I had no money for the call. So, my husband and I decided to go to the shop to buy a phone card. My son tried to accompany us but I didn’t want to take him out in the rain. I was rather stern with him and told him to stay put. He then asked me to bring him a small torch. Hearing this, my little daughter also asked me to bring her Vesak cards.”
Mrs. Priyadarshani had left her husband at the shop and was hurrying back to the house when she heard a loud sound that frightened her and made her run back to the shop.
“When I looked back in the direction of the house, I saw the electricity poles were collapsing and the mountain coming down. It was over in an instant. I tried to run back to my aunt’s house, but a woman near me stopped me and said there was nothing I could do by going there. They were all gone.”