India: More than 1,580 children displaced in one of India’s deadliest landslides

A series of massive landslides in the hills of India’s southwestern Kerala state have killed more than 385 people, including children, in the past week and forced at least 1,580 children from their homes as hopes of finding survivors fade, Save the Children said.

The landslides that struck Wayanad, a district in the Western Ghats Mountain range vulnerable to landslides during the monsoon season, is one of India’s worst natural disasters.

Parts of Asia have been battered by typhoons, storms, and heavy rain, leading to landslides and floods in recent weeks, including floods in eastern Afghanistan, which saw 1,500 children lose their homes.

India’s Council on Energy Environment and Water said in a report this year that climate change influences India’s monsoon season, and 55 of India’s 5,000 subdistricts have experienced an increase in rainfall over the past decade while nearly 3% of the country, including New Delhi, has experienced “excessive rainfall” over the past 40 years.

Sudarshan Suchi, CEO of Bal Raksha Bharat [Save the Children in India], said: “In an instant, the landslides took away everything that these children held dear – their homes, toys, their loved ones and their friends. Disasters like this, brought about by extreme weather, are not isolated incidents. But first, we need to focus on the effect that this disaster has had on the children of Wayanad and support their well-being. Bal Raksha Bharat is now supporting affected families, including through our child-friendly spaces, which offer a place where kids can rest, play, socialize, learn, or express themselves as they start to rebuild their lives.”

Bal Raksha Bharat, also known as Save the Children India, is helping 2,500 households affected by the landslides in Kerala in partnership with local self-government organizations.

SCI is also distributing hygiene and dignity kits to 1,000 women and adolescent girls and education kits for children aged 3-14. The organization is also setting up 10 spaces where children in the worst-affected areas can take shelter and play and has already started offering psychosocial first aid to children affected by the landslides.