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Kerala floods: No more God's Own Country for migrant workers

The workers felt that it is better toiling in their native places, instead of staying back in Kerala without jobs.

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A building which lodges migrant workers in Kochi seen deserted
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Sujan Mondal, hailing from Murshidabad district in West Bengal, was chatting with a couple of his friends in the deserted 'Bhai's Colony', as the migrant settlement is known, at Kandanthara in Perumbavoor on Thursday afternoon, when DNA visited the place.

On a normal workday, Mondal would not be sitting outside his room and chatting with his friends but the devastating floods made him jobless and penniless.

The workers' settlement dotting the Perumbavoor, which is home to over one lakh migrant workers, now wears a deserted look. Thousands of migrant labourers from West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand have gone back to their hometowns in a dozen-odd special train operating following the floods. The workers felt that it is better toiling in their native places, instead of staying back in Kerala without jobs.

Majority of the blue-collar workforce in Kerala is made up of the migrant workers who work in the labour intensive timber industries, rice mills, plantations, fish processing units and factories in Ernakulam and other districts.

"I also wanted to go to Murshidabad. But it will be an unnecessary expense as I will be jobless there too. So I decided to stay back and find some work here," Mondal said, explaining his decision. He said that after floods, most of the people living along with him in the 27-room two-storeyed building have left. "Eight to 10 people live in each room. Now some rooms are empty while others have one or two persons living," he said, noting many people fled as the water entered the first floor.

As many of the plywood manufacturing units were hit by floods, thousands of migrant workers dependent on it became jobless. Salim, a native of Assam, said the owner of his plywood company asked him to return to work after the unit was revived. "I was earning Rs 600 a day. Now I have to find another job to support my family living in my native," said 26-year-old Salim. He said that he came to Kerala only last year from Hyderabad as the wages are high.

Azees Pandiyarpilly, general secretary of Sawmill Owners and Plywood Manufacturers Association said the timber industry suffered a loss of Rs 150 crore in the floods in terms of damage to machines, finished goods and raw materials.

Many of the migrant workers left Kerala as their livelihood was impacted, inundation of dwellings, no jobs for next few weeks and panic at their homes Benoy Peter, executive director of Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development said, adding they would certainly return to Kerala once all the issue got settled.

Worst hit among the migrant workers were footloose workers. "Footloose workers are the ones who come to the junction to seek jobs on daily basis. Unlike the workers attached to the industries, these are the people who live in the margins paying for their accommodation and foods. They are the worst affected," Peter said.

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