Arippa land struggle beneficiaries in Keralam face bleak Onam

A resident lighting a diesel lantern at his hutment in the Arippa settlement in Kulathupuzha, Kollam, where over 250 families still live off grid. | Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN For more than 10 years, 42-year-old Shyni clung to a single, modest hope—to sit down for a traditional Onam feast with her two sons inside a real home. When she finally received a title deed for 10 cents of land six months ago, it felt like the end of her long, gruelling vigil at the Arippa Bhoosamaram (land struggle) site here.Instead, the paper in her hands has turned this Onam into a bitter marker of betrayal. Ms. Shyni’s is among more than 200 landless families who received pattayams in February, believing their long struggle was over. Today, those documents sit worthless inside ramshackle tarpaulin sheds, shredded by heavy monsoon rains. Rather than granting security, the State’s gesture has locked the families into an administrative trap that leaves them worse off than before the agitation ended.Forest dept. NOCThe Revenue department reportedly issued the title deeds without securing a mandatory no objection certificate (NOC) from the Forest department, which claims the assigned plots remain protected forest land under the strict provisions of the Forest Conservation Act. Ajayan, a resident whose application form for land title deed got rejected, shows a copy of the application form at the Arippa settlement in Kulathupuzha, Kollam. | Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN Because the land title lacks legal standing, the panchayat authorities refuse to issue basic documentation, leaving residents without possession certificates, house numbers, or electricity connections.“Holding that piece of paper made me believe our years of living in uncertainty were finally over,” Ms. Shyni says. “I had planned everything for this Onam, thinking we would finally celebrate it properly. Instead, this title deed has only made our survival harder,” she adds.Meanwhile, living conditions on the ground have deteriorated into a crisis. Forbidden from constructing permanent houses or improving their makeshift shelters on disputed land, families are struggling. “We can’t even dream of an Onam meal when we lack a proper kitchen to cook our basic food. Watching our elderly folk leave for relatives’ homes after waiting 10 years for a happy Onam only to have their dreams crushed is the most painful part of it all,” she adds.‘No real relief’ An elderly woman sits outside her under-construction hutment at the Arippa settlement in Kulathupuzha, Kollam. | Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN Other beneficiaries echo the feeling of anger and despair. Ramesan, who also received a title deed, says the land assignment has offered no real relief. “Our expectation was that the State would enroll us in a housing scheme and extend power and water lines to the site,” Mr. Ramesan says. “Instead, we were handed land that is legally contested, where even putting up a basic frame is forbidden. In past years, we managed small celebrations despite our poverty, but this year we just feel deceived. We were lied to.”Community leaders point out that despite bringing the issue to official notice, the situation remains unchanged. Sreeraman Koyyon, president of the Adivasi Dalit Munnetta Samiti (ADMS), the collective that spearheaded the Arippa land agitation, says that beneficiaries remain entirely cut off from the State’s welfare.“We took this bureaucratic nightmare straight to the authorities, yet nobody has stepped in to fix it,” Mr. Koyyon says. “Our people are stuck in the exact same misery, unable to update their ration cards or claim basic government relief. Our living conditions haven’t just stagnated—they have completely collapsed,” he adds. Published - August 25, 2026 04:41 pm IST