Minister Nehru meets with workers, receives petitions

With rehab efforts on, workers ask if they can return to hold festivals and visit ancestors' graves

- THINAKARAN RAJAMANI @ Tirunelveli

GREY skies loom over Manjolai's lush green tea estates, matching the dull atmosphere near the residential units as former tea estate workers and their families make their way to the plains. Once home to thousands of worker families, the place now wears a deserted look as only about 100 families now reside in Manjolai Hills.

Most workers have relocated to their natives in Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi and other parts of the state.

In a recent order, the Madras High Court allowed the state government to preserve the rich biodiversity of the forest where the tea estates were established under a 99-year lease and directed it to rehabilitate the workers in the plains.

The court also observed that workers in these plantations cannot claim rights as forest dwellers under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

The High Court had said, "When it comes to environmental issues, the anthropocentric approach must be replaced because the eco-centric approach would only be in line with the laws of nature."