A Year After Landslide: A Farmer's Struggle Reveals Wider Neglect In Chooralmala's Fields
Until recently, he earned nearly 20 lakh a year from his two-acre cardamom plantation and a dairy farm with 15 cows near his home.
"People used to stop and watch the cows walk to graze like a procession. The cardamom was so lush that it took a full day to harvest them from just one plant," he said, reminiscing about old times. But on Jul 30, a landslide swept away his house, plantation and dairy farm. It destroyed everything he had built over decades.
Now he lives in a rented house at Thazhe Arapetta. All he has left are trophies from a local dairy collective that once named him the best dairy farmer. Vijayan's story reflects the loss faced by many farmers in Chooralmala and Mundakkai. They lost their homes, land and livelihoods and have not received compensation.
"I used to wake up in the morning and head to the plantation even if Punnappuzha was overflowing. Now, I depend on others for my survival," said Vijayan.
He also lost Rs 7 lakh in savings from cardamom sales, which he had set aside to build a house for his daughter, along with 60 sovereigns of gold.
He had leased land for farming and also worked at Harrisons Malayalam Plantation, where he retired in March. With help from voluntary organizations, he has started again. They gave him five cows and arranged six cents to keep them. But uncertainty looms over how he can continue his vocation at the proposed township in Elstone Estate.
"I only know farming. How can I continue my work with just seven cents?" he asked. He raised this with the district collector who said the matter would be looked into.
With no open fields to graze his cows, Vijayan now spends Rs 3,000 a week to buy grass. Like him, scores of farmers await justice so they can have a future that resembles the one they once nurtured with their own hands.
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