Hearts Heavy, But New Dawn Beckons

Exactly a year after the Chooralmala-Mundakkai landslides buried homes, hopes, and entire families under the debris of despair, the survivors are taking their first steps towards a new beginning.

- Lakshmi Athira

On the first anniversary of the disaster, a few of them visited the model house built as part of the government's ambitious rehabilitation project, offering, for the first time in months, a glimpse of something they had forgotten—safety. "I'm so happy. Having a roof over our heads again feels like the biggest security," said Suhara Yusuf, a native of Chooralmala School Road, her voice quivering as she stood at the threshold of what will soon become her new home.

Suhara and her husband were the only ones to survive from their household. "We had nowhere to go. We're too old to work, and now we live on the daily allowance from the government. We never thought we'd get a home again," she said, pausing. "We're happy... but we wish our loved ones were here to live with us." Suhara's story echoes the grief and gratitude felt by hundreds.