New Delhi: Floods have become an integral part of life in Kutanad.
The seasonal disorder caused more than balanced with mineral mud left in what had become a “rice bowl” Kerala.
But over the past decade, and more striking since 2018, floods have become ordinary and worse, water does not flow.
Experts The flood of bulk rain and lowland floods sink further – the first consequences directly from deforestation from Western Ghats, and the latter, as a result of sea level rise.
The increase in sea level is still a fraction but in Kutanad, the only place in India is a large size where rice is cultivated almost 10 feet below sea level, may prove disaster.
Hundreds of Families of Agriculture, rooted in this place for generations, who left the ancestral furnace to move to agricultural land less vulnerable to the twists and turns of climate change or to cities.
The “exodus” is mostly still visible, especially to the government and official bodies.
“After 1924 floods, there was entry into Kutanad as the land had turned fertile.
But after the 2018 flood, people are now moving out …
the rise in sea level is very minute but if the flood of the river is followed by tidal flooding, it will be very dangerous, “said KG Padmakumar, director of international research and training center for under the sea level of agriculture.
In Kainakarya in Lower Kutanad in the Alappuzha district, where it takes longer and longer for water to recede after each flood, the choice for farmers has shrunk from year to year.
P Rajkumar owned 2 acres of rice fields and until 2018, a comfortable life for his small family which includes his wife, a 13-year-old child and an old mother.
All of that changed after the flood in August that year.
“There is water in our house for the day.
There is no electricity, no cellphone reception and we are afraid to go out fear suddenly a surge in water level.
We can’t sleep at night because there are no other people in the neighborhood.
Most people have fled to their relatives’ homes, “he said.
“Drinking water is increasingly difficult to get.
The toilet is a big problem.
At present, we face flooding throughout the year, “said his wife Bindu.
The family has bought 3.5 cents in Gurupuram, a relatively safe area of ​​flooding, and building houses.
“My mother broke down when we left our ancestral home.
There was a (holy grove) ‘sarpa kavu’ near the house close to his heart.
Even those who have gone under water, “said Rajkumar.
Radhakrishna Panikkar, who lives in Ward 14 of Kainakarya Panchayat, moves to her daughter’s house in the nearest city, Changanassery, every time there is a flood threat.
“I was lucky that my daughter lived in the nearest city.
What about those who have no choice like that? ” Request 75 years.
On a sunny day, the Green Padasekharams (cluster rice fields), wavy blown up and intersect with rivers, is a beautiful ad for “God’s own country”.
Fields are protected by land bunds but general breaching now.
L P Chandraprakash, who lived close to Meenappally Padasekharam in Kainakarya, said the clusters had water-logged for one year now.
“There are no more agricultural fields here.
Nobody wants to stay here.
Bunds have been built under the Kutanad package only on three sides.
One open side that allows water to enter the field, “he said.
There are around 5,000 families in Kainakarya Panchayat consisting of 15 wards.
Exodus of locals has not been part of government research and officials are reluctant to discuss the issue.
“On average, 20-25 permanently permanently locked houses in a ward where there are around 400 houses,” Recognizing Jayan Chambakkulam Integrated Rural Technology Center, quoting data from Haritha Karma Sena (Green Task Force every local body), even though he is ambivalent on reason .
He admitted, “There is no provision for water to flow out of Kainakary.
The number of canals has fallen and the existing has narrowed and easily spilled.
” M C Prasad, President Kainakarya Panchayat and the BPT leader, said many problems would be resolved by the implementation of many-hyped governments but it was difficult to understand the ‘Kutanad package’.
He, however, agreed, “the arrival of unexpected water when the rain turned into an ordinary phenomenon.
Breaking the wrong Bunds is another concern.
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