Man turns houseboat into floating farm amid COVID crisis

A man in Kerala has turned his houseboat into a floating farm to battle the coronavirus crisis. His boat was also used to rescue stranded people of Kuttanadu, a low lying area in Alappuzha, during the monsoon floods this year.

Alappuzha (Kerala): The owner of a houseboat in Kerala's Alappuzha city has turned his boat into a floating farm to combat the wrath of coronavirus crisis.

Houseboat tourism in Alappuzha has become one of the worst-hit sectors in Kerala after the Covid outbreak.

With a complete stop to the arrival of both foreign and domestic tourists, those who bought and operated houseboats for a living have been pushed into neck-deept trouble.

Jose Arathumbally has started farming with limited resources. "I sowed the seeds of okra, brinjal, green chillies, birds eye chillies, and bush pepper on the roof-tops of my houseboats. I almost spent Rs 30000 towards the initial investment," Jose added. He, however, claims that he had no plans to make this as his main source of income.

Every three weeks the harvesting is carried out, after taking some of it for use at home, the rest of the vegetables are distributed among friends, Jose said.

Jose is the secretary of the Houseboat Owners Federation. Earlier, when the District Administration, Alappuzha, had plans to quarantine expatriates in the houseboats, Jose donated three of his boats for the purpose. The same boats were also used to rescue stranded people of Kuttanadu, a low lying area in Alappuzha, during the monsoon floods this year.