A village on the border with Tamil Nadu, where the largest number of borewells exist in Kerala, is on a makeover with a multi-pronged strategy adopted by the grama panchayat for nearly a decade to meet extreme drought, seeing some positive results.
The residents say that they have freed themselves from the severe drought situation and get normal rainfall now. They can cultivate cardamom, pepper and coffee, the main crops in the high range. The story of Karunapuram is how a panchayat-adopted measures against extreme drought helped in mitigating the impact of a climate change it underwent nearly a decade back. The village faced severe drought from 2011 to 2013 and was one of the main beneficiaries of the Jalanidhi project then. The change in the climate in Karunapuram was attributed to the extended rainshadow area from Chinnar and from the western side of the Western Ghats.
“There was no water shortage last summer. This year we got surplus rainfall in the two monsoons,' 'said Sajimon M.G., who runs a hotel at Karunapuram junction. He said that the village was also free of the heavy damage caused by rains which the State experienced in the past three consecutive years.
Almost every house has a rain water storage facility or pits for storing the rain water. The main river Kallar has nearly 10 small check dams. They were constructed in a way not to affect the natural flow. “During the extreme summer, there will be water in the check dams though the river dries out,'' said panchayat secretary Sunil Sebastian.
The multi-pronged strategy adopted by the grama panchayat when the drought was worst produced the results. During that period, the largest number of bore wells were dug by the people in an effort to elicit maximum water, but proved wrong .They abandoned them one after another when the ground water level further depleted and the water became scarce. Many farmers left the village finding the crops destroyed in continuous drought. Supply of drinking water was a major challenge before the panchayat authorities. Studies conducted revealed that the ground water level was considerably depleted and the southwest monsoon was disappearing in the village. With only nominal rainfall in the northeast monsoon (a feature of rainshadow areas like Chinnar and Marayur), the main occupation of the farm sector became unviable and farmers moved out in search of better places.
“They are now returning and the cardamom cultivation which needed a cool climate, tree shade and water is also being experimented now,'' said Mr. Sebastian. When the southwest monsoon depleted, the panchayat focused on saving the water through rainwater harvesting, rejuvenating wells, making small check dams and greening the village with massive plantations of tree saplings. The panchayat even nurtured a nursery for supplying tree saplings that were found congenial for the climate and endemic to the area. This was in addition to a steady campaign launched to preserve water and rejuvenate the water bodies.
“We can now claim that this was the only grama panchayat in the area that did not supply drinking water on tanker lorries to the residents during the extreme summer in the last two years, '' said Mr. Sebastian.
The change in the climate is palpable, said Augustine Kurumannil, an old generation farmer and a former member of the grame panchayat. He said that he had sugarcane cultivation and water streams in his land which later dried out. The farmers also abandoned sugar cane and other crops when the groundwater depleted. “Now it's changing time'', he said, adding that cardamom cultivation has also returned to the village. “It needed tree shade and by growing cardamom, the farmers themselves protected the trees and the green cover,'' he said. The village with the largest number of borewells was also the one with abandoned borewells as they dried out. The panchayat made schemes to recharge the borewells and with the increased groundwater level, many of the abandoned borewells could also be regenerated. The change was slow and it was during the last two monsoons, the village got the highest rainfall in the recent years, he added. “However this cannot be termed that everything returned and the climate was retained, '' he said, adding that in future drought could also occur. However, the village is equipped with tanks to store rainwater and measures for water rejuvenation. Moreover the villagers are careful on saving the water as they were the victims of water scarcity once. “Now we are equipped to face a drought situation in future also,'' he said.
The water preservation measures will continue and it will be the area for primary focus also, said grama panchayat President Mini Prince. She said that every household is self-sufficient in water sourcing .
This is in addition to the public water preservation measures like check dams and rainwater harvesting tanks. Only through the long term strategy that the climate change could be addressed, said Ms. Mini. She said that the rain-shadow areas are not far from the village and continued strategy needed for water preservation here.
According to climatologist Gopakumar Cholayil, though the Karunapuram experience cannot be termed purely as an instance of retaining the changed climate, such efforts are models for mitigating the impact of extreme climate like drought or flood. The local level strategy adopted for soil regeneration and water preservation can help similar villages in adopting the measures to counter changes in weather conditions, he added.
