KOTTAYAM: For nearly two months, the 36-year-old Jayalal CK of Kumarakom in Kerala, who works as a cook in houseboats, has been staying at home without any income as the houseboats industry has come to a standstill ever since the nation-wide lockdown was declared by the central government on March 24.
While some of his co-workers are trying fishing in Vembanadu Lake to make both ends meet, Jayalal is neither familiar with fishing nor having a fishing net. Even as the lockdown completed 51 days and entering the fourth stage, Jayalal is under the threat of starvation.
His ordeal is not an isolated one. The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown has put nearly 8000 houseboat workers in around 2000 houseboats across the state in a tight spot. Unfortunately, they aren’t included in any welfare fund schemes and hence aren't entitled to any ex gratia allowance.
“Shortly after the flood in 2018, around 80 per cent of houseboat owners had changed salaried job of workers to daily wage work citing a slump in their business. Since tourism sector is bearing the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic, the sector has recorded zero business from the mid of March and we haven’t had the income of a single penny for all these days,” said Jayalal.
The crisis is not for the workers alone, but the pandemic has put houseboat owners, who invested a considerable amount in business by availing bank loans, in severe financial predicaments. In Kumarakom, single-bed to seven-bed houseboats are available and each one charges according to the luxury it offers. As per a rough estimate, each boat entails an initial investment from Rs. 35 lakh to Rs. 1.15 crore.
“Barring a few, majority of the owners have bank loans. Since banks don't accept houseboats as a mortgaged property, many of us have taken loans from cooperative banks on high interest rates, pledging our land or house,” said KR Shanoj Kumar, former secretary of the Houseboat Owners’ Society, Kumarakom.
Shanoj demanded moratorium for these loans at least for a year, that too without interests to avoid possible suicide of cash strapped houseboat owners. “The houseboat industry was set to come out from the continuous natural disasters, which started with the Nipah outbreak in 2018, followed by back-to-back floods in 2018 and 2019. With Covid-19 hitting countries across the world, we are clueless on a resumption of business in the tourism sector,” he added.
Meanwhile, as per rough estimate, the lockdown has made a cumulative loss of Rs. 9 crores in the houseboat industry in Kumarakom alone. “There are around 120 houseboats in Kumarakom, which charges Rs. 6500 to Rs. 50,000 per day. On average, houseboats operate nearly 25 trips per month. Moreover, April-May, which usually records huge inflow of domestic tourists, is the peak season for us,” Shanoj said.
According to Shanoj, a crisis in the houseboat industry will have a direct impact on the local economy as a large chunk of the employees are belonging to the local area. “Apart from direct employees, who earn Rs. 800-850 per trip, others like persons offer laundry services, have also lost their revenue. Since houseboats are in idle, fuel pumps have lost revenue of Rs. 1 lakh in Kumarakom alone,” he said.