The outer bund of the Kanakassery paddy polder in Kainakary, which was reconstructed a year ago, has breached again. The bund has breached at least five times in the last four years.
Though the latest breach has led to flooding of Kanakassery along with the adjacent Meenappally and Valiyakari paddy polders, the houses in the region have not been submerged like previous times as the water level in the lake remained low. The work to plug the breach is expected to begin in the coming days after the water in the polders reaches the same level as in the lake.
The breach comes at a time when farmers at Meenapally and Valiyakari are busy preparing fields for the ‘pucha’ crop season. Farmers said that they had spent huge amounts to remove weeds and make fields ready for sowing.
600 families
“Between 2018 floods and now, the outer bund of the Kanakassery polder has breached on numerous occasions. Apart from bringing hardships to around 600 families living in and around the three polders, the breaches prevented us from undertaking paddy cultivation. In the last four years, cultivation was done only once.
This year, we were hoping to cultivate paddy in the puncha season. We fear the flooding of fields, which is necessary for beginning work to plug the breach, will affect the cultivation,” said a paddy farmer at Meenapally.
Recently, NABARD had sanctioned funds for strengthening the outer bund of the polder. However, the work is yet to start.
