Like the proverbial sparrow hawk, the poor people in the low lands of Upper and Lower Kuttanad are left craving for drinking water, though they live amidst an abundance of water.
The well water in many parts of Upper Kuttanad is reddish-yellow with a bad odour and is not suitable for human consumption. Many people, especially those belonging to the below the poverty line category, depend mostly on the shallow canal waters for their domestic chores. Faced with few other options, the local populace have adopted certain crude methods for ‘purifying’ the water collected from wells and canals.
Theirs is a simple system passing water through different vessels filled with sand, granite chips and charcoal. Sometimes, the canal waters turn squalid and we have to do filtration twice or thrice,” said Bhargavi, Ponnama and Chinnamma”, who reside on the bund along the banks of the Anchadithode canal at Alamthiruthy-Vamanapuram in Peringara panchayat.
ADVERTISEMENT
Though Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has extended its waterlines to the Upper Kuttanad region, prolonged disruption in the supply of chlorinated pipe water is a regular feature in the region throughout the year, lament Markose and Robin, who are part of the informal movement in water purification and use in the Kuttanad areas.