Rebuilding Kerala: Long road ahead
After the devastating floods, the state is taking steps towards reconstruction
No one can blame Kerala if the state takes a long, deep breath and wonders where to start with the rehabilitation work.
The scenes of devastation and loss in a state renowned for its stunning natural splendour and smiling faces have deeply traumatised its 33 million people. The road to rehabilitation is long and tortuous but Kerala is getting down to it with a steely determination.
Just before disaster struck, Kerala had rolled out an ambitious scheme to tap funds from its non-residents for largescale construction and renovation of its roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
The plan was to raise the funds through the traditional chit fund scheme, tailored for non-resident Keralites, and name it the Pravasi Chit Fund. As things have turned out, the state needs all the help it can from not only non-resident Keralites, but anyone willing to contribute to the rebuilding of the state.
Quick estimates put the state’s fund requirements for reconstructing its roads and bridges alone at nearly Rs60 billion (Dh3.14 billion) in the first year and a half. Those funds would help rebuild some 35,000 km of roads and nearly 220 bridges that have suffered minor damages or complete ruin.
Hard-hit households
Kerala receives on an average Rs1 trillion worth of remittances from around the globe, much of which has gone into constructing palatial homes and other physical assets. A good chunk of those assets have been lost. What the government lost by way of physical infrastructure, it will borrow from the market by issuing bonds or get contributions from different quarters.
That, however, is not an option for private individuals, rich or otherwise, who have lost their life’s earnings overnight.
In the NRI heartlands like Ranni, Thiruvalla and Chen- gannur, for instance, the homes and businesses that were built on NRI money earned over decades were ruined when the dam gates were opened.
Says K.M. Kuriachan, a planter: “Schools will reopen after the Onam holidays. How are families who have lost virtually everything send their children back to school or raise money to pay fees for the next term?”
Rithu Tomy, a businessman based in Aluva, feels some schools may go back to the old system of letting parents pay per month, instead of having to pay a term fees at one go.
Tourism’s recovery
Kerala’s traditionally strong tourism sector has been dealt a crushing blow. For tourism operators, the road back to normalcy is long and winding.
Many of the resort owners may be able to get their flooddamaged properties back in shape after a great expense, but they also need to wait for the infrastructure to be in place for tourists to be back at their properties.
In many parts of Idukki, Alappuzha and Wayanad — all three districts are tourist magnets — roads have been wrecked and will take several weeks to be repaired. “Idukki has been thrown back at least 40 years”, says M.M. Mani, state power minister, whose department had to take a call on releasing water from the Idukki dam when rains were pounding the state.
A number of people feel that it was the Kerala State Electricity Board’s decision to delay opening the dam’s gates that submerged Aluva in flood-
waters, a claim denied by the KSEB.
Businesses take a hit
Says Jose Mathew Kochukudy, who owns plantations in Idukki district: “From the time dams began to be considered solely as power-generating utilities, the focus was purely on monetising all the water by way of power generation, From then on, water was always stored to the maximum, ignoring the danger that a breach would cause to people downstream”.
For most small businessmen in Kerala, the floods have completed a veritable hat-trick of blows after the demonetisation and introduction of the Goods and Services Tax by the federal government.
The floods showed no mercy to small and medium-scale businesses as they swept through buildings, wiping away stocks, machinery, raw materials and finished goods alike. Says S. Rajkumar, chairman of the Kochibased Sree Kailas group: “Given the losses suffered by businesses, banks should offer a moratorium for interest payments that fall due in the near term. After all, production has not been possible over the past few weeks and will not be possible in the coming few weeks as well.”
The gold business in Kerala is another sector that has been ravaged by the floods. Weddings have either been postponed, or been turned into no-frills events. After all, people who have lost everything cannot be shopping for jewellery when they return to their slush-filled homes.
Despite nearly all being lost, the one thing the people of Kerala are not losing is the burning desire to rebuild their state.
From the time dams began to be considered as power-generating utilities, the focus was on monetising all the water.”
Jose Mathew Kochukudy | Plantation owner