Sadar had closed his shop in the town and returned home a bit early last Tuesday. There was a steady downpour for the previous two days and business was affected. The water level was already on the rise, but Nattassery, where he stays, was safe from normal monsoon floods.
He woke up the next morning feeling rather odd. He got out of his bed to step into knee-deep water. He rushed out, and moved to a relative’s house for the next three days. He returned home only after the water had receded, but he is still engaged in cleaning up the house for the umpteenth time.
The western low-lying areas of the district, which form the upper Kuttanad stretch, is not new to floods and heavy rain. However, this year it was different. Says Punnen Kurian Venkadath, director of Tropical Institute for Ecological Studies. “This season’s rain reminded one of the ‘Karikidakom rains’ of yore. One of the reasons could be the massive landslide near Erattupetta, the source of Meenachil river,” he said.
With most of its first and second order tributaries in the highlands lost or encroached into, water had no other course but to flood the low-lying areas not only in the western boundary, but also in the midland, he pointed out. “The experience of Pala town is a classic example. Most of the tributaries have been lost and have given way to unchecked development. Naturally, the floodwaters continued to stagnate for an extended period in the town area. Initially the water had taken the usual run-off through channels, but with volume increase, there was no other possibility but embankment breach,” Dr. Kurien said.
According to Rajiv Pallikonam, one of the leaders of the Meenachil-Meenanthara-Kodoor River Revival Project, the situation in Kottayam town and nearby areas would have been worse if the rivers and rivulets had not been cleaned before the monsoon.
The project could clean less than 100 km of rivers and their first and second order tributaries during the period. That was a limitation, he added. He believes that the heavy rain could affect this year’s paddy cultivation. One of the reasons would be the huge quantity of waste materials that have been brought down from the highlands into the paddy fields. Equally bad would be prolonged inundation. However, every flooding is a flushing operation too and this would have its positive impact during the coming summer season,” he said.
