26-07-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Wayanad landslides: Survivors try luck with eateries; many give up, some carry on
KALPETTA: Sofiya Jayan, a resident of Chooralmala School Road, worked as a tea garden labourer at the Vanarani Estate in Mundakkai. Her husband, Jayan, was a daily wager. That was before the landslide ripped through the region. Now, the couple runs a tea stall – named 'Chooralmala Thattukada' – on the Kalpetta Bypass Road.
'The landslide has taken away our livelihood. We had been receiving work through connections with our neighbours and other villagers. As we have lost our neighbourhood itself, it's hard to find a job in this new place. We searched a lot for jobs, but finally decided to start a tea stall,' Sofiya told TNIE.
The river Punnapuzha overflowed and the entire neighbourhood was washed away in the landslide that struck on July 30, 2024. Since their house is located in the 'No Go Zone' marked by the John Mathai Committee, Sofiya and Jayan have moved to a rented house in Kalpetta. Many of the daily wage earners and plantation workers of Mundakkai-Chooralmala, who subsisted on the resources available in the area, started eateries to survive the disaster.
Especially, those lacking specific expertise or skills are trying their luck with roadside eateries, thinking they are easier to manage. But many have already closed their shops, struggling as they were without adequate knowledge of running a business.
Some, like Sofiya continue to run their shops because they have failed to find other jobs. 'We receive Rs 9,000 as daily allowance and Rs 6,000 as rent from the government. We have also been included in the government's township beneficiary list. But we need a job to survive and meet our daily expenses,' Sofiya said. She could cook some snacks, so they decided to start a tea stall, she said.
