KOCHI: Selling land holdings, they loaded their humble belongings in bullock carts and started the journey to an unknown destination, a remote and unfamiliar terrain. There were women, children and the elderly in the batch. Some even took their pets and cattle. They rested in open spaces and youngsters stood guard in turns as others slept. Trudging through tough terrain, they reached the promised land after weeks of the exhausting journey. Fighting the vagaries of nature, wild animals, famine and epidemics, they cleared the forest and started cultivating the fertile land. They helped a starving state tide over the great famine after the Second World War, and the rulers accepted them as settlers.
A century has passed since Kerala witnessed the great migration of peasant families from Central Travancore to the high ranges of Idukki and Malabar. A community that contributed immensely to the state’s development is now facing an existential crisis. Falling prices of agricultural products, the growing menace of wild animal attacks and institutional harassment are forcing them to another migration.
The government and the conservationists treat the settlers as encroachers. We conveniently forget the fact that it was the ruling establishment of the period that facilitated the settlements. Five decades after issuing land rights, fears of evection have gripped the settlers. In a state with a population density of 900 people per sqkm, how can vast tracts of revenue land be converted into forest land? Where will the 4 lakh settlers go? Will they become refugees in their own land? It was abject poverty, paucity of cultivable land and hope for a steady livelihood that forced the peasant families in Central Travancore to migrate to the high ranges of Idukki and Malabar.
From 1829, the Travancore rulers encouraged farmers to settle in the high ranges of Idukki and cultivate cardamom. As World War II triggered food scarcity, the Travancore King announced the ‘Grow more Food scheme’ promoting migration. The settlers cleared the forests and tilled the land to cultivate paddy, tapioca, coconut, pepper, cardamom and areca nut. It was their determination that helped the state tide over a food crisis.
The Malabar migration started in 1925 when a few families went to Malabar, then a part of Madras Presidency in search of cultivable land. Many settlers perished due to Malaria and wild animal attacks, while a few returned unable to withstand the struggle for survival.
More than 1 lakh people migrated to Malabar between 1945 and 1960. They were driven by anticipation, excitement and fear. They overcame the challenges with determination, perseverance and grit. Their settlement helped the establishment of roads, schools and hospitals in the high ranges.
“We are devastated. Many have stopped cultivating their land as wild animals like monkeys, deer, wild boar and elephants destroy the crops. Now tiger attacks have become a regular feature. Dairy farming is the only source of livelihood and tigers have started killing our cattle. People are forced to leave their land and migrate to the midlands,” says Gifton Prince, a farmer in Sultan Bathery.
“If the one-km buffer zone is imposed around protected forests, around 4 lakh people will be affected. People will not be able to sell their land or pledge it to avail of loans. There will be restrictions on commercial farming, night travel and land use. In a few years, people will be forced to abandon their land and migrate. This is eviction without compensation,” says Rajesh, another farmer.
Farmers are not encroachers. If the one-km mandatory buffer zone is made applicable across the state, many towns including Amboori in Thiruvananthapuram, Kumily in Idukki and Sultan Bathery in Wayanad will turn forest land. Conservation is good, but it should not be at the cost of human livelihood.
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