Madikeri: Thanthipala, a village near Madikeri, was a place for nature lovers amidst paddy fields and coffee plantations. A hanging bridge was also made to provide connectivity to the village across a river and possibly the village name was derived from the hanging bridge.

The recent natural calamity has totally destroyed the village. The landslides have buried the paddy fields in mud up to a depth of 10 feet. Hundreds of trees have been uprooted and spread across the village with the whole areas looking like a timber yard.

The Thanthipala River is completely filled with mud and has diverted the direction of flow. The soil erosion has created valleys with roads also caving in.

An under-construction house has been buried in slush and has totally damaged the structure with about Rs.15 lakh spent already going waste.

A huge hillock had partially collapsed damaging another two-storey under-construction house. Villagers say that if the entire hillock collapses and slides down in future, the entire village would go extinct.

The victims of natural calamity are housed in relief centres and relatives houses. As the access roads to the village have been damaged, the victims are unable to easily migrate elsewhere. The nightmarish havoc on Aug.16 has left little hope in the minds of the residents of Thanthipala to get back to original form in future.