The work to plug the breach on the outer bund of the Kanakassery paddy polder in Kainakary has begun.
The outer bund of the polder was breached for the second time in less than a month last Monday. In August, the bund breach submerged over 450 houses in the region and forced the residents to shift to relief camps. The breached portion was reconstructed using sand bags and families returned to their homes earlier this month.
Although the latest breach has led to flooding of Kanakassery, Meenappally, and Valiyakari paddy polders, the houses in the region have not been entirely submerged like previous time as the water level in the lake remained low. Officials said that the work, which commenced on Saturday evening, would be completed in a time-bound manner.
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“The breached portion is being reconstructed using sand bags. We hope to finish the work in 6 to 10 days,” said an official.
The Agriculture Department initiated measures to plug the breach soon after the outer bund ruptured last week, but difficulty in getting necessary machinery and sand delayed starting the work. “Last time, the sand needed was brought from Thottappally. This time we sourced the sand from Komalapuram,” the official added.
Following the latest breach, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac had blamed padashekhara samitis and said he suspected sabotage behind the breaching of the bund. Dr. Isaac said that there was a lobby engaged in the construction of the outer bunds.
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Kuttanad witnessed a series of bund breaches last month after a rise in water level in rivers in the region. It had resulted in flooding of a large number of houses and paddy fields.
3,000 hectares
Besides flooding houses, last month’s floods and bund breaches destroyed paddy cultivation in about 3,000 hectares in Kuttanad. According to the Agriculture Department outer bunds of 19 paddy polders were breached.
This has destroyed paddy cultivation in 1,051 hectares. Crop in another 2,172 hectares was washed away due to floods.