On July 30, 2024, a chain of landslides tore through Vilangad in Vanimel grama panchayat, wiping out homes, farms, roads, and the livelihoods of hundreds of families. While the region was overshadowed by the more catastrophic Wayanad slides on the same day, Vilangad itself counted more than 100 landslip “epicentres” and the destruction of dozens of houses, farmland, roads and bridges. In the months that followed, many families lived in temporary shelters or rented houses, surviving on limited cash aid, rent support, and a state‑declared moratorium on their loan recoveries. The promised rehabilitation package re‑housing those who lost both land and home was repeatedly announced but delivered in slow, fragmented steps, leaving many victims in limbo.
The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) stepped in as one of the major institutional interveners, committing to build 100 houses for landslide victims who lost both land and homes in the Wayanad and Vilangad regions. In the first phase, a portion of these houses about 70 units in Vilangad were completed and handed over in May 2026, with the project’s completion meeting held on May 14. These houses are not just bare shelters; they are full‑fledged homes built on government‑identified safe sites, incorporating basic amenities and household appliances provided by the Church‑led initiative. The project is being coordinated under the Diocese of Thamarassery and implemented through local parish and social‑service structures, turning the rehabilitation effort into a community‑embedded, faith‑based solidarity campaign.
Even with the KCBC’s 70 houses, Vilangad’s rehabilitation remains incomplete. The government had earlier promised ₹15 lakh each to families who lost both house and land, and had earmarked funds for soil removal from farmland and river‑silt clearance. However, victims have documented delays, discrepancies in beneficiary lists, and slow progress on both cash aid and land‑restore work. The KCBC initiative effectively fills a critical gap by converting financial promises into concrete, habitable structures. For many families, receiving a KCBC‑built house is not just about a roof; it is about regaining a sense of security, dignity, and rootedness after years of displacement. At the same time, questions remain about who gets left out families who lost only part of their land or whose names were excluded from official lists, and whose fate depends on further technical reports (for example, NIT‑Calicut‑based assessments).
Vilangad’s case is symptomatic of a larger pattern in Kerala’s post‑disaster governance high‑profile promises, slow implementation, and the rising role of religious and civil‑society actors as de facto state substitutes. When government machinery is overburdened by multiple disasters across the state, Church‑run or mission‑led projects often become the only visible, tangible relief for hill‑region communities.
Read more at: https://www.manoramaonline.com/district-news/kozhikode/2026/05/15/vilangad-rehabilitation-kcbc.html