Kalpetta: On Saturday, 67-year-old Annayyan K steered his autorickshaw back home at Kalpetta's Turkey Road. It was 5.30 pm. The incessant rain had crept into his bones. "I couldn’t stand the cold," he said. That morning, he had driven to Meppadi, about 10 km away, hoping to earn his daily keep. But after eight long hours of dodging rain and union workers, he returned with just ₹100 in hand. "It was a terrible day," he said. "I usually manage around ₹200 to ₹250."

Annayyan was once a farmer -- and a proud one at that. "The best in Chooralmala," he'd say, recalling the days when his two-acre plot along the New Village Road yielded coffee, arecanut, pepper, and avocados, bringing in around ₹20 lakh a year.

Then came the landslide on July 30. The farmland on a curve became a natural debris trap, where uprooted trees, boulders, and mud crashed in. Rescue teams recovered 76 bodies from the site in the days that followed. "Today, not a leaf can be seen on my property," said Annayyan.

After being driven to the brink of poverty, Annayyan and his wife, Shakunthala (60), received an autorickshaw from Providence College, Kozhikode, in March this year. He had hoped it would be a lifeline. But with auto unions in Kalpetta and Meppadi hounding him like crows chasing off an outsider, he said he works like a thief -- slipping through familiar streets, picking up passengers on the move.

In May, Annayyan applied for a halting permit with the Regional Transport Office in Kalpetta and a halting place permit with the Kalpetta Municipality — two essential documents to work as an auto driver in the town. "The municipality has not given the permit yet," he said.

Kalpetta Municipal Chairman and Congress leader Isaac T J said the permit was issued five days ago, with a designated halting spot at the Ayyappa Temple auto stand. "If he hasn’t received it yet, it's likely a technical issue. Ask him to meet me or the secretary on Monday -- this is his livelihood, and I’ll make sure it’s sorted," he said.

What Issac didn’t know was that Annayyan had already met the municipal secretary on Saturday -- and was asked to come back on Monday, the same line he had been hearing for the past three months.

After Annayyan got the autorickshaw, the government stopped the monthly livelihood support of Rs 9,000. "But without a permit, how do I earn? Once, I went to the Collectorate and threw the auto key at officials in the front office. I told them to keep the auto. They laughed at my plight."

From a busy farmer to an idle driver

Annayyan said he had recently applied for the old age welfare pension of ₹1,600, but the application was rejected because his wife, a part-time sweeper at Puthumala LP School, earns ₹14,000 a month. "I never asked for government help when I was a farmer," he said. These days, it is his wife who covers the cost of fuel for the auto and pays the rent -- a reversal he accepts, but one that weighs heavily on him.

Annayyan's farmland was bought by his father, an early settler from Karnataka. When Annayyan was in Class VII, his father passed on. "After that, I joined a tea factory on the night shift. I’d return home at 6 am, take a bath and go to school," he recalled.

After Class 10, he began working full-time --- both at the tea estate and on his own farm. As a farmer, his days began at 5.30 am and stretched past midnight. "I had to water the coffee and areca trees. Otherwise, the yield would drop," he said.

Each year, he sold around 6,500 kg of coffee -- his main source of income. Arecanut fetched him Rs 4.5 lakh, and pepper brought in another Rs 3 lakh annually. In 2024, he was awarded the Best Farmer by the Krishi Bhavan. Officials from the Coffee Board of India often visited his farm and took photographs.

He also owned four shops in Chooralmala, which earned him ₹40,000 in monthly rent. All of them were destroyed in the landslide.

"Recently, I was told by village officials that the remains of my shops would be cleared to build a new bridge to replace the Bailey bridge. I told them the government must compensate me first," he said.

In Chooralmala, 54 shop owners lost their buildings and livelihoods. None has received compensation. On July 15, 12 of them, including Annayyan, travelled to Kochi and signed a vakalatnama to sue the government for compensation -- both for farmland and commercial property.

"All I want is to be a farmer once again," he said. "I go mad sitting inside the auto, waiting for a customer."

He says the government should either clear his land and return it or give him two acres elsewhere. "Give me four years," he said. "I'll rebuild everything I lost."