Kerala must share sector’s burden

Several tourism spots in Kerala that record high rate of growth are located in plantation areas, and the state which is its beneficiary must be part of the efforts to sustain it, they claim.

“Plantations in Kerala have reached a stage where it is forced to close down estate operations in order to reduce the losses mounting on a daily basis,” Association of Plantations in Kerala (APK) president C. Vinayaraghavan said.

“The current crisis seems to be much worse than the one we have faced during 1999-2000. If urgent support mechanism is not implemented by the central and state governments, large-scale unemployment and serious law and order situations may arise in the plantation sector in Kerala.”

Pointing out that the crisis is not limited to the tea industry, he said the fall in prices of rubber and cardamom have resulted in the running of the estates unviable. “If support mechanism from the government as well as from the trade unions are not evolved immediately, closure of plantations in Kerala are imminent,” he said.

The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry has demanded that the state government take proactive steps to solve the issue so that the forthcoming tourist season is not disturbed.

Meanwhile, Kanan Devan Hills Plantation Company has said the labour strike which started on September 7 has caused huge damage to standing crop which will result in losses running into several crores of rupees. “If this situation continues, it could affect the very existence of the company,” it said in a release here on Friday.

“For the year ended on March 31, 2015, the profit after taxes was Rs 5.02 crore as against Rs 15.55 crore in the previous year, a steep fall by 68 per cent,” it said.