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Manjolai estate turns ghost town as ex-tea workers moved to plains
The New Indian Express
|December 13, 2024
With rehab efforts on, workers ask if they can return to hold festivals and visit ancestors' graves

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 native 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.
This story is from the December 13, 2024 edition of The New Indian Express.
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