Salt-pan labourers in Thoothukudi lose savings in recent rain; No work till April

Heavy rain has affected 40,000 salt-pan workers in Thoothukudi, India, damaging livelihoods & homes. Compensation & infrastructure restoration needed.

The heavy rain that lashed the southern districts, washing away about six tons of salt stocked in salt-pan units, has affected the livelihood of about 40,000 people employed in salt manufacturing works.  

The salt-pan area in the district, located on about 20,000 acres, produces an average of 20 lakh tons of salt every year. The rain-induced damage will definitely affect the 1,200-odd salt manufacturers and their families. Further, about 3,00,000 persons who are indirectly linked to salt pans, such as transport and loading, among others, would also be affected. 

The salt production season usually starts in February and ends in September, and the salt is stored in huge heaps before they are transported. Though salt pan units’ workers will usually be unemployed in October, November and December every year, this year, the burden is more as their properties and houses had been damaged in the rain. 

A worker, C. Dhanalakshmi, 43, said, usually the workers save up some money to manage their expenses in the months where they would be unemployed, but this year, they had to spend all their saved money to clean and rebuild their damaged houses.  “Now, I have no savings as I have spent everything on buying essentials. What I usually spend during these three to four months has now been spent in a week,” she added.  

She said her the income of her husband, a daily-wage labourer, too would be insufficient and added that year, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, following demands, had offered them a cash assistance of ₹5,000 for three months, while they have no salt pan works. This time, she hopes that the workers are given at least ₹10,000 each in compensation.  

Another worker, M. Lingammal, 53, said: “Usually, during rain, we work in farms and construction works as there won’t be any work in salt pan units. But this year, we would not be able to work in farms either as almost all farmland had been inundated...”

“While most of us work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) works during this time, due to severe infrastructure damages, that too will not be available,” she lamented.