Annual income earner of fifteen lakh rupees before disaster; Annayyan wants to farm again, on his land that was stolen by landslide

CHOORALMALA (WAYANAD): Annayyan has only one wish. He wants to prepare his two acres of land in Chooralmala, which was covered in dead bodies and huge trees in the landslide, for farming. About sixty dead bodies were found, along with huge trees and rocks. Annayyan's land was the best agricultural land in Vellarmala village. His ancestral house was also there. Everything was swept away by the landslide. Annayyan was the supervisor of HML Estate.

Coffee, pepper, Areca palm and coconut were cultivated on two acres of land. He had earned more than fifteen lakh rupees a year from the plantation alone. He got his two children married. Annayyan says that if the trees and other things that have covered the plantation are removed, the bodies of the missing people might be found. Annayyan's parents, Koragappan and Kumbha, had come to Mundakkai from Mangalore years ago. They had come to cut trees for the railway. Sixty-five-year-old Annayyan was born here. He turned the land into fertile soil with sweat and blood.

Now Annayyan has no means to live. Knowing his pitiful condition, the Calicut University Staff Organization had donated him an auto-rickshaw. However, the auto-rickshaw drivers in Kalpetta did not show Annayyan that mercy. They did not provide a stand for the Annayyan's auto-rickshaw to ply. Life was hit a dead end. His wife Shakuntala is a part-time sweeper at Puthumala LP School. Annayyan is eligible for a house in the township of Elston Estate. He currently lives in a rented house in Kalpetta Turkey.

"If he is given the opportunity to farm in the plantation, we can regain everything. He is a hard worker. There is hope.'

-Shakuntala,

Annayyan's wife