Pussellawa landslide:Boulders rolled over them...

Text and pix by Thava Sajitharan

As torrential rains continued throughout the hill country last week, several incidents of landslides were reported from various parts there. A number of landslides, both major and minor in nature, occurred in the vicinities of Pussellawa, Peradeniya, Hatton, Nuwaraeliya and other areas. People living close to landslide-prone areas were alerted to impending hazards. Many reservoirs reached overflow level following continuous rainfall. Sluice gates of those reservoirs were opened to release excess water.

Travelling from Kandy to Pussellawa, on the way, one gets to see plenty of mud flows that could be identified as minor earthslips resulting from slope materials being saturated with water.

However, two major landslides occurred near Pussellawa last week. According to the Pussellawa police, six persons were killed in the incident that occurred along the Kandy - Nuwaraeliya main road in Paradeka, a small town near Pussellawa located 26 kilometres away from Kandy last Sunday. Deputy Post Master General of the Central Province W.P. Sirisena, sixteen year-old O/Level student of Pussellawa Sarasvathi College, Thirumoorthi Devanandan, Josep David Prabakaran (Atabage), Kelaniya Weerasingalage (Pittakanda), Marimuthu Chandrasekaran and Wickramarachi Nandasena were the victims. Five vehicles were buried under the debris. Several buildings on the hillyside of the main road, many of which were trade centres were destroyed.

When we visited the place on Wednesday, the clearing of debris was afoot. Bad weather delayed the process. The road remained blocked for nearly three days forcing the motorist to travel via alternate routes.

The other landslide took place outside the Paradeka town on the same road. A huge rock, separated from the mountain slope, lies on the other side of the road. There were no casualties reported in this incident.

The families that lost their residences due to the landslide in Paradeka have been sheltered in Pussellawa Sarasvathi College and Senkuwara Janapathaya Samantharamaya. The Gampola Pradeshiya Sabha provides food for them. There were witnesses who saw the rocks falling off the mountain slope behind the buildings.

Narayanan Balakrushnan (70) whose newspaper stall is partially buried under the debris related the incident: "Around 5.30 in the evening, a bulk of mud slipped off the slope and we realised that danger was imminent. It was immediately brought to the notice of the Resource Development Consultants (RDC), a body which is involved in the construction of Gampola - Nuwaraeliya A5 road. And the mud was removed. At that time, the police and RDC warned us that the slope behind our buildings might have been weakened by the heavy rain and told us to be cautious. Most of us left our residences and stayed away. About 7.30 pm the rocks and the slurry of mud began to fall. Only those who were passing by the road got caught to the rock fall. That post master who died in the incident had come in a vehicle from Nuwaraeliya and just got down from the vehicle to see what was happening"

A. Subramaniyan (51) who lost his saloon in the landslide lamented that he had lost the only source of income he possessed. He believed that the blasting work done by the road constructors in the past led to the landslide. "Explosives were used to get the rocks out and to reduce the front portion of the buildings projecting toward the road. This measure was taken to broaden the road. This would have surely affected the stability of the rocks", he noted.

"We complained to the RDC several times in the past that we feared rocks might collapse one day. But they said such thing wouldn't happen," he lamented.

"Now I have no way of earning. Some politicians have visited us so far. Apart from that, no authority has yet come to see us. We have no clue as to what the future has for us," he added.

When we sought the version of the road construction group on this issue, a senior engineer involved in the project who wished to remain anonymous admitted that some rock blasting work was done in the area but defended that it could not be the sole reason for the landslide. "How did the landslide occur everywhere else in the country? There has been unprecedented rain in these landslide-prone areas. And that is the prime cause that triggered the landslide," he said.

"Yes, there was some blasting work done. There had to be some form of getting the rocks out. Moreover, those buildings are very old. When road constructions of this nature are done, sometimes side effects are unavoidable. Some propose to build high rise walls along the slopes. Yet, you could see how huge that rock which fell on the road. We've been having discussions with experts to find out what can be done to prevent landslides," he added

The Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, defines the landslide as a 'geological phenomenon that includes a wide range of ground movement' and says 'although gravity acting on an over steepened slope is the primary reason for a landslide, there are several other contributing factors affecting the original slope stability'. Apart from river erosion creating oversteepened slopes, vibrations from machinery, traffic, blasting and even thunder may also trigger failure of weak slopes, according to the Wikipedia.

The construction of the Gampola - Nuwaraeliya highway has been undertaken by the China Harbour Engineering Company Group in association with the Resource Development Consultants, a body comprise Sri Lankan Engineers. The Pacific Consultant International based in Japan funds this project. The whole project includes construction of the Gampola - Nawalapittiya highway covering 17 kilometres and Gampola - Nuwaraeliya highway covering 54 kilometres. The Gampola - Nawalapittiya highway construction is fully completed. Eighty per cent of the Gampola - Nuwaraeliya road work is completed up to now. The total cost of the project is estimated as two billion rupees.

Unlike in other instances, many people in Paradeka whom we spoke to, do not spurn the idea of relocating to a safer place. They are looking forward for the authorities to provide a better, safer place to lead their life.