S. Sruthi, who lost nine of her family members in the July 2024 landslides in Wayanad’s Mundakkai and later her fiancé in a road accident, has now fallen victim to an unfulfilled promise.

T. Siddique, the Congress MLA of Kalpetta, had publicly pledged to ensure that Sruthi got a home within 120 days, but has failed to deliver even after one and a half years.

Sruthi has now applied for a home under the Wayanad township project of the Left-ruled state government.

Sruthi’s home was destroyed in the July 30, 2024, catastrophe. Last July, ahead of the first anniversary of the tragedy when The Telegraph met Sruthi in Wayanad, she had said a private company had promised her a three-bedroom house in Ponnada, Wayanad, and that construction had begun.

Sruthi had hoped that once the southwest monsoon subsided, work would resume. Two social media influencers under the banner of their online news portal in Thrissur district had pledged to donate ₹35 lakh towards the construction of the 1,500sqft house. The influencers were known to Siddique and the foundation had been laid with much fanfare.

But halfway through the construction, work came to a standstill due to a dearth of funds.

Siddique later said he had never promised Sruthi a house.

“I’d always maintained that it was an online news portal that promised a house to Sruthi. This unwarranted controversy has been triggered by the CPM to malign me ahead of the Assembly elections,” he said.

Sruthi said on Monday that she would not comment on the issue, citing the model code of conduct and the fact that she worked as a clerk in the revenue department of the Wayanad collectorate. A source close to Sruthi told this newspaper that she had since reapplied for a home under the state government scheme.

“Since a private agency had promised to build a house for Sruthi, she had informed the government that she does not want one under the state scheme for the landslide-affected. She had instead accepted a compensation of ₹15 lakh, which she would now have to return to the government as she has applied for a house in the Wayanad township,” the source said.

Wayanad district collector D.R. Meghashree has said that some of those affected by the Wayanad landslides who had accepted compensation were now approaching the government with requests for houses in the Wayanad
township.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had promised the landslide-affected families that the work on the township would be completed before the state goes to polls. However, the project is yet to be completed and could take a few months more.

On Monday, Vijayan took potshots at the Congress, urging the Opposition party to first provide a house to Sruthi and then “brag about the Indira Guarantee scheme announced in its manifesto”.

• Kerala votes on April 9