The agriculture-based economy of the district, which was desperately in need of a rebuilding package after the devastating floods, has got little consolation in the State Budget. The expectation was high as the high range area of the district was heavily damaged and infrastructure re-building there needed urgent attention. The roads are badly damaged are still under repair. It was estimated that cultivation in 11,530.64 hectares of land was destroyed in the floods; thousands of buildings were destroyed in landslips.
The plantation sector, the largest employment provider, was reeling under crisis but there was no proposal for the reopening of the closed tea estates in Peerumade taluk.
“Though it was expected that the closed tea estates would be reopened with some packages in the budget, nothing materialised,” said Kerala Plantation Workers Federation district president Cyriac Thomas. There was no proposal in the budget for rejuvenating the plantation sector, he said, adding that the agriculture sector should have been given due importance. He said a ₹200-crore package was allocated in the first LDF budget for the plantation sector. Nothing had been implemented. It was hoped that the closed divisions of the Peerumade Tea Company Ltd and Kottamala and Bonami divisions of MMJ Plantations would be reopened. However, the budget ignored the sector, he added.
Minister’s stance
Electricity Minister M.M. Mani told The Hindu that the district had not been sidelined in the budget. He said the crisis faced by the plantation sector was complicated. Not just tea, but rubber and coffee plantations too faced crisis.
The proposal for branding the coffee from Wayanad as Malabar Coffee, to reach a wider market, was also applicable to the coffee produced in Idukki, he said.
The budget was also silent on projects to augment vegetable production at Kanthallur and Vattavada, where the area under second and third cultivation hs dwindled due to lack of irrigation facilities.
The tourism sector in Idukki also did not get much consideration in the budget.The United Democratic Front (UDF) will observe a ‘black day’ in the district on Friday to protest against the ‘neglect’ of the district in the budget.
