People residing on the banks of the Iruvazhinji are living in a state of perpetual fear after river walls caved in during the heavy rain. The land has caved in mostly between Mukkam and Koolimad and the houses on the banks of the river are under threat of collapsing if the land continues to cave in.
“Some houses at Theyyathumkadavu, Munnur, Pazhur and Karamoola are located on the edge of the land that caved in. The meteorological department has predicted heavy rains in the first week of July. In that case, these houses are in danger,” said K.T. Abdul Nasar, the general secretary of Ente Swantham Iruvazhinji, a collective of local people making an effort to save the river.
The caving in was the result of heavy flow of water after the landslip at Kattippara and the rise in water levels due to the heavy rain. A meeting of the collective at Theyyathumkadavu on Friday noted that the extent of damage on the banks of the Iruvazhinji was much more than that on Poonoor river and Cherupuzha which have been directly affected by the landslip. They attributed the heavy damage to the trenches in the underbelly of the river to large-scale sand mining in the past and the nature of the soil.
“Iruvazhinji is a small river that could not handle sand mining on a large scale. However, sand mining was banned in the river a few years ago. This is the first major flood after that and it has created much damage,” said Mr. Nasar.
Special package
The collective wants the authorities to protect the banks of the river in a scientific manner and to plant more trees to avoid further caving in of land. The meeting has demanded a special package for the Iruvazhinji and has invited officials and environmental activists to visit the site.
The collective has asked Mukkam Municipality, Kodiyathur, Karasseri, Thiruvambadi, Chathamangalam and Kodencheri grama panchayats to set aside an amount for the protection of the river. It also highlighted the need for a large-scale clean-up of the river as plastic waste and tree branches have accumulated in many places after the floods, interrupting the flow of the river.
