Karnataka landslide: Bibin recounts his narrow escape while transporting cocoa

Kothamangalam: "My life was saved because I bargained to reduce the amount paid for the puncture and repair of the vehicle by Rs 50. Otherwise, I would have met the same fate as Arjun...," said Bibin Bose (33), recounting his narrow escape from the landslide in Shiroor, Uttara Kannada. Bibin, who was transporting cocoa to Maharashtra in a lorry, vividly recalled the harrowing experience of witnessing the landslide.

The shop owner asked Rs 2000 for repairing the lorry. Bibin requested a discount of fifty rupees while making the payment. Seeing no indication of a reduced price, Bibin returned to his lorry. It was only then that the shop owner agreed to deduct Rs 50. When Bibin stepped out of the lorry to collect the money, he witnessed the mountain collapsing in front of him. "If I hadn't stepped out to reclaim that fifty rupees," Bibin recounted, "the lorry and I would have been buried underground." 

Bibin, a seasoned lorry driver from Kothamangalam, has been driving across states for 12 years. Accompanied by co-driver Abhilash from Adimali, they were fortunate to be 150 metres away from the landslide site when it occurred.

After narrowly avoiding disaster once, Bibin's quick thinking saved another tanker lorry carrying gas. Spotting it abandoned after the landslide, he immediately moved it to safety, preventing further catastrophe.

The death of the tanker lorry driver, who was having tea at Laxman's tea stall, remains deeply painful for Bibin. The tea shop and everyone who had been there fell into the river, and another parked gas tanker was also swept into the water with tremendous force, said Bibin. This caused the river water to surge onto the shore. A mobile tower on the mountain was also destroyed. Bibin mentioned that he did not notice Arjun or the lorry driven by him. He returned home on Tuesday morning.