Kerala off-roaders to the rescue

Normally, this writer does not like to begin a story on a sombre note, but a flood or a deluge can prove to be the toughest calamity that humanity can face in a region. I should know because I have the deluge of 2005 in Mumbai as a benchmark. Back then, I was pulled out of school early due to the heavy rain and most of us barely made it home safely in our dinky little hatchbacks, which waded through the waterlogged roads on a wing and a prayer. But even that horrific situation seems to pale in comparison to the tragedy that struck the region of Wayanad in Kerala, on July 30 of this year.

As per a report by ecologist Madhav Gadgil, the flooding of the river Chaliyar and landslides, buried the villages of Chooralmala, Attamala and Mundakkai in Wayanad under massive debris in a matter of moments. The death toll is unthinkable, with at least 300 lives lost and countless remaining missing; a stark reminder of how nature’s fury can cause things to go out of control in mere moments. While the Army and the fire rescue department have their work cut out to help save people in this tragedy and move them to shelters, they are being assisted in their efforts by a group of good samaritans – Kerala’s massive off-road community. During such unprecedented emergencies, local off-road clubs with their highly capable modified off-road machines and Mahindra 4x4s swing into action, assisting in the rescue effort and helping transport people and materials.

Dr Mohamed Fahed VP, winner of the 2024 edition of the Rainforest Challenge says, “We don’t usually take our (4x4) cars on (public) roads very often. We only take them on the road when it is necessary.” However, he adds that, “When natural calamities happen, our vehicles will be the first ones to go there – because they need us.” And why are these off-road vehicles pressed into service? The reason is their capability, which allows them to reach almost anywhere, literally. A lot of these clubs run Mahindras but also other highly modified off-road vehicles. With ambulances and Army trucks getting stuck in hard-to-access areas, a dedicated 4x4-built vehicle is absolutely essential in the rescue effort.

Snehil Kumar Singh, District Collector, Kozhikode, says, "When the landslide happened, there were a lot of rocks, there's a lot of soil, there's a lot of water there. The normal vehicles are not able to go, and to arrange bigger trucks of army and fire force and other departments also might take some time. But local engagement with the off-roading community helps a lot in terms of being the immediate rescue and relief, because it takes some time to make the road more durable for that immediate one day or two day period. It is essential that we use such (off-road) vehicles for transporting people and as well, transporting goods (during this time)."

Off-road enthusiasts such as Dr Fahed have built and run off-road machines that are purpose-built to take on the toughest of conditions in competitions such as the RFC. These vehicles are shod with massive mud tyres or M/Ts, which deliver grip in conditions such as the mud or slush in flood-affected regions. They also feature upgraded suspension, often with a lift kit to raise the height of the vehicle along with heavy-duty winches to assist in the recovery process of broken down vehicles, also allowing them to overcome any obstacles that they might encounter as first responders. And finally, they have the most important equipment for driving through a flood-affected area – a snorkel, which allows the engine to breathe and not sputter to a stop, even when the water level rises past the bonnet during water wading, much above the engine’s regular air intake.

Videos of these vehicles have also gone viral on social media; one shows a modified Mahindra Bolero wading through water almost up to its roof and the Mahindra seems to be hardly breaking a sweat. The Bolero was also carrying elderly people on its bonnet after rescuing them, which brings me to another important aspect of these vehicles. While younger people could wade through water and manage to get out of their houses, the elderly in most cases have no such hope. These modified vehicles in these situations prove to be lifesavers, rescuing them and moving them to higher areas.

And with roads washed away, no ambulances or regular vehicles can run in this neck of the woods – it’s only these off-roaders that can get there. Even Army personnel were relying on these jeepers to transport them to inaccessible and flood-affected areas as nothing else, not even their Army trucks, would be able to wade through these regions with the ease that a modified off-road 4x4 vehicle can manage. The authorities also used drones to survey the region and for search and rescue, with the jeeps helping transport these drones, along with fuel and drivers for the JCB and Hitachi excavators called to duty.

Off-road clubs from Calicut and districts such as Malappuram also joined in the rescue effort, helping transport bodies from Nilambur. “Almost 15 to 16 jeeps from the KL10 Offroad Club were recovering bodies swept away by the river to Nilambur, which is nearly 100km away,” says Fahed. KL10 Offroad Club is a registered club with 180 members and 160 4x4 vehicles, including 15 competition-spec vehicles. In addition to this, Adventure Club Cheruvadi along with off-road clubs Pulpally Offroaders and Wayanad Jeepers have been on the scene of the tragedy with their modified off-road vehicles since the first day itself, to help recover bodies with the Army and fire rescue department, while also rescuing people stuck in these areas and taking them to government hospitals. Sujeesh Kolothody and the Kerala Motorsport Society are also part of the rescue effort, helping coordinate the flow of supplies, and ensuring coordination between the state and local authorities as well as the off-road clubs. The off-road community in Kerala stepping up, has provided a huge boost to the rescue operations.

All these off-road clubs come together under a group dubbed United Kerala Offroaders, covering 14 districts from Trivandrum to Kasaragod, and the camaraderie of off-road clubs does not end at just the use of their vehicles in times of crisis. They are also collecting funds for the CMDRF (Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund), while also being involved in rebuilding homes for those who have lost their own. Off-road clubs from as far as Bangalore in Karnataka are also transporting and sending essential supplies such as chlorine tablets and sanitary napkins to the flood-affected areas of Wayanad and its neighbouring regions.

Niyas Almantri from Adventure Club Cheruvadi described it as a “precious moment of his life” when they got to work together and transported materials for the Army to construct a Bailey bridge in Wayanad. Some of the off-roaders chuckle that once this calamity is over, the authorities will go back to imposing fines on their modified off-road vehicles. But there is little that defeats the can-do spirit of these individuals, and their capability behind the ’wheel of their purpose-built off-road rigs is phenomenal. Moreover, such incidents also reveal another beautiful aspect of off-roading – which is that you leave no one behind.

Off-roaders never head out into the wilderness alone. They always head out in packs or pairs, because you never know when you might get into a sticky situation and need to be winched out. And in times like these, this philosophy is put to the hardest test. While the authorities are doing their job dutifully, it is also the efforts of the off-roading community in southern India that continue to provide hope in the midst of such an unprecedented natural disaster. All the more a reason for their tribe to grow then!

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