Landslide survivors at Chooralmala face debt trap

Survivors of Chooralmala landslides face debt crisis after losing loved ones and properties, seeking loan waivers for relief.

The survivors of the devastating Chooralmala landslides are facing a grim reality, having lost their loved ones, homes, land, and properties. To add to their woes, they are now staring at a mountain of debt, threatening to derail their fragile recovery.

Nissar Ahamed, a resident of Punchirimattom, has lost seven members of his family — his father, mother, brother, brother’s wife, and three children. Four bodies were recovered, three are yet to be retrieved. Mr. Ahamed and his wife had escaped the landslide as they were in Kozhikode on July 30.

The family had 1.10 acres of land with coffee and pepper crops, which were destroyed in the landslide. Ahamed had borrowed ₹7 lakh from the Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE) in 2023 by pledging 50 cents of land. He used the amount to settle an agriculture loan from the Meppadi branch of the Central Bank of India. He now has to pay around ₹8,500 every month to the KSFE.

“I have lost everything in the landslide and have to start from the scratch. I do not know how to repay the loan. If such loans are waived, it will be a boon for hundreds in the area,” Mr. Ahamed said.

The massive landslides have so far claimed over 230 lives. According to the district administration, 119 people are still missing.

Azeez, a marginal farmer at Mundakkai, had 1.5 acres of land with coffee, cardamom, and pepper crops. He and his family had gone to Mysuru to attend a marriage on July 30 and returned to find their property and house destroyed and many of their neighbours missing in the landslide.

The farmer had borrowed ₹1.4 lakh as crop loan and ₹2.5 lakh as a gold loan from the Chooralmala branch of the Kerala Gramin Bank. “Every year after harvest, I used to renew the loan without fail, but I don’t know how I can pay the amount next time as all my income sources are gone,” he said.