Alipurduar: Suresh Oraon and Babulal Oraon had turned jobless in 2007 when management of the Alipurduar tea garden where they used to work closed it down.

After 11 years, they are jobless again, this time because of the devastating floods in Kerala.

Like hundreds of other tea workers in north Bengal whose joblessness and lack of alternative employment opportunities at home turned them into migrant labourers, Suresh and Babulal had travelled thousands of kilometres from Madhu Tea Estate, 39km from Alipurduar town, to Kerala in search of jobs.

"After the garden closed down in 2007, I searched for jobs but hardly found any to run my family. The next year, I decided to move to Kerala as some people told me about the higher daily wages there. Since then, I had been staying in Kochi and working in a construction firm," said Babulal, sitting in his hutment on Thursday morning after having arrived from Kerala a few days ago. The 41-year-old is the sole bread earner of his five-member family.

The garden, sources said, had reopened for a few months after the 2007 closure but the management shut it down it again in 2014. It is yet to reopen after that.

Suresh and Babulal weren't alone. Suresh and Akash - whose mother turned jobless due to the closure - also left for Kerala a few years back. Suresh got a job in Ernakulam as a construction worker. Akash, only 19, joined Babulal in Kochi.

"We have faced joblessness earlier in the garden and have seen the consequences. After we started earning in Kerala, we were sure our families would not die of starvation. Our earnings increased and we had been sending money home regularly. But the devastating floods have left us jobless again. We have seen the destruction and have no idea whether we will get back our jobs," said Suresh.

Unlike many others from north Bengal who continue to remain out of contact in Kerala or are yet to return to their homes, Suresh and Babublal are lucky to be back.

"We are aware of the losses at construction sites (in Kerala) and doubt whether we would get our jobs again. Some of our friends who used to work in cashew processing units are in a similar problem as several such units, cashew plantations and godowns have been washed away," said Babulal, who managed to board one of the few trains that left Kerala after the deluge for Calcutta.

But the comfort of being home is tempered by the grim job situation in Alipurduar. "It is tough for us now. On the one hand, the garden has not reopened and on the other hand, we have to wait at least a month, if not more, before going back to Kerala again and search for a job," said Babulal.

Some have started scouting for "alternatives". "We have some friends and seniors who had moved to other states like Rajasthan and Gujarat. I have thought of meeting their families at the garden and getting their contact numbers. Given the current situation in Kerala, I feel it would be easier if I move to these states. I have got some money but that is enough to run the family at best for a couple of months," said one worker.

The families sounded relieved for now. "We were worried because we could not contact him for the first few days after the floods. It is good that he has returned home safe," said Babulal's wife Sushila.