27-07-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
Haunted by landslides and wild animals, Mundakkai farmers await delayed rehabilitation
MUNDAKKAI : Dilapidated buildings, an abandoned church, crumbling workers' lanes, a damaged mosque and mangled remains of vehicles... The plantation area of Mundakkai wears a deserted look. Indicating the constant presence of wild animals, elephant dung is seen all over the road from Chooralmala Bailey bridge to Mundakkai.
The water in the river has turned muddy due to incessant rain and the flow has increased compared to the previous day. While boulders are seen scattered on the river bed from Punchirimattam to Chooralmala, the rocks have been cleared in the downstream areas of the Bailey bridge. The tea factory at Mundakkai is the only place with human presence.
On Vellarmala School Road two elderly farmers—Thankachan and Sivan— were seen trudging their way through the muddy road to Chooralmala.
'We both have one-acre farmlands in the upper reaches of the road. As there is no human presence, wild boars and elephants are destroying our cardamom and pepper crops. We have been living in rented houses at Chunkathara near Kalpetta since the landslide. We have to spend Rs 150 per day to visit the farmlands. And it is difficult to get passes from village office to enter the area. So we stay in a shed at the farmland from Monday to Friday, ' said Sivan.
The demarcation of red zone by the John Mathai Committee has landed the farmers in a quandary as they will not get houses at the rehabilitation township and will have to return to their land soon.
'The farmers are not willing to return to the hamlets as they fear there will be more landslides in future. The slopes of the Vellarimala hills have weakened and the loose soil may trigger a devastating debris flow. Besides, elephants are roaming the area and it will be tough for farmers to survive here, ' said ward member N P Sukumaran.
While Sukumaran, who was running a spices shop at Chooralmala, lost his shop and spices worth J60 lakh, many farmers and traders were reduced to penury by the disaster.
Seventy-year-old Annayya, who owned two acres of farmland near Vellarmala village office is driving an autorickshaw at Meppadi now.
'I used to get an income of J25 lakh a year from my farmland where I cultivated cardamom, pepper, coffee and arecanut. The landslide devastated my house and farmland and we stay in a rented house now. I earn a meagre amount of J300 per day,' he said.
