Mud banks on the riverbed have been posing hurdles to the free movement of Palliyodams
The lowering of water level in river Pampa every year, due to excessive human intervention and unscientific exploitation of the river resources, has been posing threat to the famous snakeboat regatta, Uthrittathi Vallamkali, in Pampa at Aranmula.
The mud bank formations on the riverbed, coupled with the lowering of water level, have been posing hurdles to the free movement of the majestic Palliyodams (snakeboats) in the race course of Pampa.
The indiscriminate sand mining from the riverbed over the past three to four decades has irreparably damaged the riverine system, says N.K. Sukumaran Nair, general secretary of the Pampa Parirakshana Samiti that has been campaigning for the cause of Pampa for the past 25 years.
1994 clashes
The Aranmula snakeboat race held in 1994 had ended up in clashes and police firing over a tiff between the organisers and the oarsmen when a boat capsized in the midstream during the race. The organisers had to drop the boat race from the annual regatta on more than one occasion owing to alarmingly low water level in Pampa.
A large portion of the riverbed on the Thottappuzhassery side of the Pampa, opposite to the Sree Parthasarathy Temple ghats, has turned into a grassland where cattle graze, amply exposing the degradation of the river system, Mr. Nair said.
The State government has been spending around Rs.50 lakh to remove the mud banks in the race course prior to the annual snakeboat regatta every year without conducting any studies on its adverse effects, he added.
Mr. Nair has attributed the present sorry state of affairs of the Pampa to the sidelining of the warnings and directives issued by the Centre for Earth Science Studies and the Central Water Commission way back in the 1990s.
