Wayanad landslides: Decks cleared for laying foundation stone for township for survivors on March 27

Kerala government to lay foundation stone for township to rehabilitate landslide survivors at Elstone Tea Estates in Wayanad.

With the Kerala High Court declining to restrain the Kerala government from taking over Elstone Tea Estates land at Kalpetta in Wayanad, decks have been cleared for the foundation stone laying ceremony for a township to rehabilitate survivors of the Chooralmala-Mundakkai landslides.

According to official sources, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will lay the foundation stone for the township on Thursday (March 27, 2025) evening. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Wayanad MP, is expected to attend the event to be held at Elstone Estate.

The township is coming up on around 65 hectares of land. The government has proposed to hand over ₹26 crore as compensation to the estate owners. However, there was some uncertainty earlier about the project after the estate owners approached the court saying the compensation was meagre considering the current market price of the land there.

The earlier proposal was to take over 65 hectares belonging to Elstone Tea Estates at Kalpetta and 73 hectatres belonging to Nedumpala Estate at Meppadi to construct the township to rehabilitate the landslide survivors. However, the government later decided to take over only the land belonging to Elstone Tea Estates in the first phase of the project. Both the owners had filed petitions in the Kerala High Court against the acquisition.

Though Revenue Minister K. Rajan declared in the Assembly recently that the foundation stone laying ceremony would be held on March 27, the government was reportedly concerned if the court order would be against its plan. There were also reports that in the event of an unfavourable order, a symbolic event could be held at Kalpetta.

Meanwhile, 235 of the 242 beneficiaries selected for the first phase of the rehabilitation have handed over their consent letters to the authorities till March 24. As many as 170 people have sought houses in the township, while the others have expressed their wish to receive financial assistance of ₹15 lakh. The single-floored houses will be spread across 1,00 sq ft. The township will also have a health centre, an anganwadi, a community centre, and a common market. The title deeds of the houses cannot be transferred for 12 years.

At the same time, around 300 labourers at the Elstone Tea Estates have opposed the plan to evict them without proper compensation benefits. The Wayanad Estate Labour Union, affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), is leading the protest.