Top of the Meeriyabedda Land Slide

Introduction

At 7:30 am on 29 October 2014, a landslide struck the Sri Lanka district of Badulla, killing at least 16 people and leaving an estimated 200 missing. The landslide was triggered by monsoon rains, and occurred at about 7:30 AM local time.

The landslide occurred in a hilly region, hitting the village of Koslanda in the Haldummulla division, 190 kilometres (120 mi) from the capital, Colombo. The landslide was triggered by monsoon rains and was about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long. According to Sri Lanka’s National Building Research Organization, it had issued a warning of possible landslides on the night of 28 October, but the Disaster Management Center (DMC), which was responsible for broadcasting the warning, had failed to deliver to the Badulla area; the DMC denied the claim, saying it had sent the warning but residents were not able to evacuate before the slide occurred.

Initial reports indicated that as many as 300 people were missing, while officials said that six bodies had been found on the day of the slide. The following day, however, the number of missing was lowered to 192, while the number of bodies found had been reduced to three, according to Pradeep Kodippili, an official at the country’s Disaster Management Center (DMC-SL). However, as rescue efforts continued on the 30th, the number of confirmed dead rose to 16, while officials said that it was unlikely any of the missing would be found alive. The confusion over the number of missing was compounded by the destruction of a local office, which had contained records of the area’s population.

Physical damage caused by the slide included some 150 houses buried, as well as several road and railroad washouts.

Several hundred rescue workers, including government personnel, local aid workers and other volunteers, reached the site within a day of the slide, as well as 500 military troops. Heavy equipment was later brought in, as well as an additional 200 troops, by the 30th. Continued rain, as well as unstable terrain due to ground saturation, impeded rescue efforts, and late in the day on the 30th, the entire operation was suspended overnight due to rain. Following the slide, authorities ordered several hundred residents of nearby communities to evacuate due to the risk of further landslides.

Two secure centers were set up at Koslanda Tamil School and Poonagala Tamil School. On 30 October 2014 the centers accommodated 522 and 317 people, respectively.
Source – Wikipedia

As you all know this big disaster was impacted to our lives also, because we were shocked by seeing this kind of disaster to this innocent people. After few weeks we quickly went to Meeriyabedda to see this area. Actually our target was to go to the top of that mountain.

We came there around 10am and had enough time to walk along that area. This was a very risky for us because there were plenty of germs since there were many dead bodies under the ground which weren’t taken by the army. The ground was fully filled with mud and water streams. We never touch the water since it might can made healthy issues. Finally we came to the top of that mountain where the landslide was begun. There was a small water stream which looks like a 5m high waterfall. That whole area was dangerous, there were many huge rocks on the way and the mud was very dangerous.
However after we finished our tour (actually this is like a research on there) we left from there around 4:00pm. Unfortunately this tour made a big damage to my life also, first one is I lost my Rs.45,000/- worth smartphone and the other one is a wound. I was suffered around 6 months from that wound which was a germ attack.

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