KASARGOD: The tiled house is home to 10 members of a joint family, including Keerthy Y, an endosulfan survivor. The 21-year-old girl runs the risk of losing the comfort of a roof overhead a month from now, but she does not know it. Perla Service Cooperative Bank, Enmakaje, attached the house after her grandfather Y Subbanna Alva (72) defaulted on dues.
On October 1 -- a day after the government’s extended moratorium for repayment of loan taken by endosulfan victims ended -- the bank transferred the house and 12 cents of land to its name. “This forced us to move the High Court, which stayed the sale procedure,” said Alva, who took a loan of `70,000 to repair the house. The outstanding amount now is around `1.50 lakh.
Alva, who is the guardian of Keerthi since the death of her father, hopes the government will “write off the loan as part of the endosulfan package”. His lawyer Prakash Ammannaya said they met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. “But the CM said only loans taken for treatment of endosulfan victims can be waived off,” he said. The bank said it will move ahead as per the procudure. “I have not seen the court order. But the bank will take steps to recover the money,” said the bank’s secretary K Shankanarayana Bhat.
Keerthi was born with physical and intellectual deformities, which doctors attributed to the unregulated aerial spraying of endosulfan on cashewnut plantation in Kasargod district. Alva said since the government spent around `3 lakh each to build houses for endosulfan survivors, it should write off this loan taken to repair the house of an endosulfan affected girl. Apart from the `1.5 lakh loan, the Alvas are saddled with another `3.5 lakh agriculture loan taken from two other banks.