THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close to the hustle and bustle of Neyyattinkara, a concrete stalk rises high over the roads leading towards Tamil Nadu.
Some years ago, it would have been spitting fumes, thrown off from the furnace at its base where tonnes of bricks would be heated to firm them up.
The furnace is at the brick kiln run, the sole brick kiln in the district, run by the cooperative society Amaravila Chudukal Ulpadaka Kraya Vikraya Sahakarana Sangham, which operates under the Kerala Khadi and Village Industries.
The workers blame the climate — sometimes rainy, sometimes mildly sunny for this lack of activity. “Then, mud is scarce too. It is usually brought in from Tamil Nadu. But with added curbs now, the procurement is not that easy,” says, L Joy, the president of the cooperative society.
The worker headcount too has decreased. The strength in this kiln has dropped from over 100 to 26 workers, including women. Even among the 26 workers, only a few are called each day for work.
Yet, the products are still in demand with construction activities booming. But the kiln is going through a damp phase.