Munnar (Kerala), April 2 (IANS) As the nationwide lockdown, announced to limit coronavirus infection, has hit all walks of life; two brothers, here, who earned their living by lending their horses to tourists for a ride, are distraught.
The picturesque tourist destination of Munnar on the Western Ghats in Kerala that buzzed with tourists present a deserted look today.
Abraham and Edwin together own eight horses. Before the lockdown, by taking tourists around on the horseback, they were earning decent money and looked after their horses — mainstay of the business – well.
Located in the Idukki district of Kerala, Munnar is a hill station 1,450 metres above the sea.
Today both the brothers are staring at an uncertain future as no tourist had arrived there for almost three weeks.
“Each horse has to be fed twice a day, which costs around Rs 300. In a month, medicines cost about Rs 1,500. We have run out of everything — money as well as horse-feed,” said Abraham.
“We had several good tourist seasons. We could save some money and are surviving on that,” said Edwin.
Though things are bad everywhere, the brothers feel they will tide over the crisis. Their only worry is about their horses and hope the state government should come to the their rescue.
–IANS
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