The Pampa Parirakshana Samithi (PPS), an eco group that has been campaigning for the cause of river Pampa since the past 25 years, has predicted chances of a major deluge in Pathanamthita and Alappuzha districts, if the authorities concerned failed to rejuvenate the tributaries of river Pampa in a time-bound manner.
According to PPS general secretary N.K. Sukumaran Nair, the unprecedented flood situation following heavy rain in the district in 2014 amply warned of the possibility of a catastrophic deluge in future.
Mr. Nair was releasing the PPS study report on the degeneration of the tributaries of river Pampa here on Friday. The study was conducted by an expert team of the PPS with financial support from the district panchayat and the Environment Department, he said.
The Varattar, a tributary that links rivers Pampa and Manimala, has been turned into more or less a dry channel over the past three decades. Efforts to rejuvenate the Varattar still remain a dream owing to lack of initiative on the part of the authorities concerned.
Another tributary, Uthrappally river, that links rivers Achenkovil and Pampa is on the path of death. The Kuttanmperoor river, a tributary of Pampa, too is faced with alarming degeneration.
C.P. Rajendran, a researcher, has identified 280 tributaries for Pampa.
Pathanamthitta district has been receiving an average annual rainfall of 4200 mm which is higher than the State average. Mr. Nair said indiscriminate sand-mining has lowered the Pampa river-bed resulting in salinity intrusion up to its Aranmula-Kozhencherry stretch in the recent past.
Many streams and canals leading to Pampa had been illegally converted and many others have become waste dumping areas over the past two decades. The streams and canals that have been the natural flood escape routes were very good water reservoirs that prevented flooding of villages to a certain extent in the past.
The study report says that the indiscriminate granite quarrying activity on various hills in the Pampa river basin has already started demolishing many hills. Mr. Nair said demolition of hills would ultimately lead to destruction of tributaries of river Pampa .