Floods have left this tribal colony in ruins

CHALIGATHA (WAYANAD): Rubble of damaged houses, scattered pieces of clothes and utensils, furniture half-buried in mud — these were the scenes that welcomed flood relief volunteers who visited Chaligatha tribal colony at Mananthavady, Wayanad. Situated on the banks of Kabini river, the colony was just one of the many tribal colonies which were devastated in the floods that hit the district earlier this month.
As the raging Kabini changed its course and flooded Chaligatha colony on August 8, the 53-odd families shifted to nearby camps and safe locations. The tribespeople, who had barely recovered from the devastation wreaked by last year’s floods, said the recent calamity was the last straw and sought government’s intervention to rehabilitate them.
Standing near his ruined house, Manoharan (62) said tragedy struck him twice this year. “I lost my wife Savitri to lung disease four months ago. My two sons and I are now staying at my brother’s home, located away from the river,” he said. Unlike Manoharan, 55-year-old Sudhakaran has no place to go. “For a year, I had been staying in my damaged house with my wife and five sons. But this year, the floodwaters did not show any mercy and my home was destroyed. We are now residing in the building of a local club,” he said.
This year’s floods also dealt a double blow to Shoba and her husband Rajan. “We lost our house and provision store. I took a loan of Rs 2 lakh from Esaf Small Finance Bank to set up the shop. I am now paying Rs 750 every week to the private bank,” said Rajan.
With paddy fields getting inundated, those who took land on lease to cultivate paddy are also staring at huge losses. Not only have they lost their lease amount, their equipment also got damaged. Sivan Jogi, a young farmer, lost around Rs 50,000, which he spent on paddy cultivation. Sivan said that they won’t get compensation for agricultural loss since they cultivated paddy on leased property. Shoba and Rajan had spent around Rs 60,000 for paddy cultivation. Most of them have taken loan from Esaf.
Regarding the one-year delay in beginning the rebuilding process, Mananthavady tahsildar Shaju N I said that all procedures were completed and construction of houses were about to begin, when the floods hit again. “The government had granted Rs 6 lakh each to rebuild the houses which were damaged last year. Of this, Rs 4 lakh was from chief minister’s distress relief fund and Rs 2 lakh from the tribal department,” he said.
Mananthavady tribal officer Pramod G said that the colony had become uninhabitable and steps were being taken to rehabilitate the residents. “A meeting of authorities concerned will be held on Tuesday to begin the land identification process,” he said.