The Nipah virus scare that has in its grip most parts of northern Kerala has begun to hit toddy business in Chittur and surrounding regions of Palakkad district that is the traditional hub of the brew.
If the data available with the Excise department is any indication, there is a sharp decline in the demand for toddy at retails outlets located in Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kasargod, Wayanad and Thrissur districts.
On Monday, only 20,135 litres of toddy were transported from Chittur to these districts though the permit allotted was to carry 35,184 litres. On Sunday, the transported amount of toddy was 23,970 litres. On Saturday, it was calculated to be 19,595 litres. On Friday, it was 19,150 litres.
Incidentally, no Nipah case was reported in Palakkad district so far.
“Even regular consumers in the northern districts have stopped drinking toddy for the last one week after knowing that the zoonotic disease transmits naturally from vertebrate animals to humans. The primary host of Nipah virus is fruit bats and toddy can become contaminated with saliva or urine of these bats. That fear strongly prevails among the regular consumers,” said K.G. Kannadas, who works in the toddy-tapping business at Govindapuram near Muthalamada.
However, the scare seems not to have reached the southern districts, where the permitted amount of toddy is even now shipped from Chittur. Yet the heat of the slump in business is being felt especially by the coconut growers of Chittur primarily because major share of toddy produced here goes to north Kerala, where there is a severe drop in consumption.
Toddy tappers and far owners in areas around Meenakshipuram, Gopalapuram, Velanthavalam and Muthalamada, where round-the-clock toddy tapping happens throughout the year, seem cast down. In the absence of business as before, huge amount of tapped toddy is getting emptied inside the plantations itself.
“Because of acute summer, the production was very low in the last three months. With the onset of monsoon, the sector is back in action. But the Nipah is causing huge loss to us,” said P.V. Balan, a trade union leader working among the toddy tappers.
Being the toddy hub of the State, Chittur is supplying the intoxication to 4,000 licenced toddy outlets across Kerala.
