With no options left, elderly tribal woman in Kannur stares at a bleak future

Kolayadu: At 77, Thettumal Mathu still draws strength from the forest and meets life’s hardships with quiet resilience. But one night of wind and rain changed everything.

A massive rosewood tree, nearly 10 feet wide, came crashing down on her modest home in Peruva, Kolayadu. Her husband, Eniyadan Chandran, who had been sleeping in a shed near the house, was crushed to death. One of her two cattle also perished in the tragedy.

Mathu, had once cultivated paddy, plantains, and a hundred rubber saplings provided by the tribal department on a plot in Cheramkunnu. Just when the rubber trees were ready for tapping, wild tuskers and bison destroyed the plantation, forcing her to abandon farming altogether.

With no other option, she turned to cattle rearing. The local panchayat extended financial support to buy cows, and her dedication earned her recognition from Kolayadu Krishi Bhavan as the best dairy farmer in the area, producing 15 to 20 litres of milk daily.

Her only legal claim to the land is a document of forest rights that she inherited from her ancestors. But even this land offers little relief, as she is not allowed to cut down trees except for the fruit-bearing ones she planted.

No one in her family imagined that a giant rosewood would one day crush their dreams. Now, with her partner gone, livestock lost, and old age limiting her ability to work, Mathu is left with nothing but uncertainty.

She no longer has the means to buy another cow, nor the strength to return to wage labour. She waits in hope for help from the panchayat, the Scheduled Tribes department and the forest authorities.