KOCHI: The deluge has pushed many traders and shop owners in Kalady town to the brink with many of them even contemplating suicide. V K D Thankachan, Kalady Merchants' Association president, said nearly 80 per cent of the merchants in Kalady suffered huge losses."The ones who had their shops on the ground floor of the shopping complexes and also in the buildings in the market are the ones who bore the brunt. Their losses are in the range of to be Rs 50,000-Rs 75 lakh plus," he said.
According to Thankachan, these traders - those who suffered losses of upto Rs 75 lakh - had availed loans from loan sharks, the cooperative banks or relatives. "It will be incredibly difficult for them to come to terms with the loss. For them, it will be impossible to rebuild . Also, many of these shop owners are not insured and this has left them in a financial mess. They will not get any money to compensate for the losses," he said.
"Only 20 per cent of the shops reopened in Kalady. More than 50 per cent of the merchants can't even entertain the thought of shelling out more money to clean up their shops and resume business, " Thankachan said.
He accused the administration of not taking stock of the situation and initiate steps to help out the merchants."When it comes to generating revenue through taxes, the government needs the merchants. But when it is time to help us out, the government looks the other way. People believe since we are businessmen we have tonnes of money parked in the bank .
However, this could not be any further from the truth," he said. The association has submitted many memorandums with the district administration and is planning to approach the Finance Minister seeking help.