Houseboats turn homes for flood-affected Kuttanad and Kumarakom

More than 3,000 people are staying in around 150 houses boats which have been moored on the shores of the Vembanad lake for the past seven days.
The families at Cheepungal near Kumarakom, who shifted to houseboats after their houses were inundated | Vishnu Prathap
The families at Cheepungal near Kumarakom, who shifted to houseboats after their houses were inundated | Vishnu Prathap

ALAPPUZHA:  The word ‘houseboat’ is a synonym of leisure tourism in Kerala. However, literally, the houseboats of the backwaters of Alappuzha have become real abodes for many flood displaced people in Kuttanad. More than 3,000 people are staying in around 150 houses boats which have been moored on the shores of the Vembanad lake for the past seven days.Says Thomas Mathew, owner of PTR Holidays, a houseboat operator of Punnamada: “I have been staying in the houseboat for the past many days with my parents, wife and three children. My house, Parathara at Punnamada, was inundated by August 17.  The water level had reached my neck. So we shifted from our house to the two-bed room houseboat anchored at Punnamada.”

“The water level reached above four to five feet at Punnamada area. We realised the stay in the houseboat is safer. The flow of water is very low in the lake.  So we shifted to the houseboat. Many houseboat owners and employees’ families shifted to boats in Punnamada, Nedumudy, Pulinkunnu, Pallathuruthy, Kainakari, Vattakayal and other areas,” Thomas said.

The water level in the Vembanad lake started to increase by August 16. People started to move from the backwaters to the mainland of Alappuzha. The district administration was asked to deploy houseboats for rescue operations and many participated in the task. But a few neglected the plea of the government and it invited the ire of the public. Later, the police arrested a few houseboat owners.

S Sreekumar, former president, All-Kerala Houseboat Owners Association, said as many as 800 registered houseboats are there in the backwaters. “Most of the boats took part in the rescue operations. After the initial operation, many families of houseboat owners and employees shifted to houseboats, because no houses were spared from the flood water in Kuttanad taluk,” he said.“Some of the owners were hesitant to deploy boats for rescue operations. It was due to the lack of boat crew. The employees of the boat are from Kuttanad and Alappuzha backwater areas. Their houses were also inundated,” he added.

In Kumarakom, extending a helping hand to the flood-affected people in the region, houseboat owners have provided shelter for more than 200 flood victims in their houseboats. This gesture of houseboat owners came as a great relief to the people of the 20th ward of Ayamanam panchayat. According to T D Anil Kumar, a staffer at one of the houseboats, a total of 220 people are staying in 40 houseboats anchored at Cheepungal near Kavanattinkara.  

“When we saw panic-stricken people searching for shelter after flood water entered their houses at night around six days ago, we opened our houseboats to them. Now, they are managing their lives aboard houseboats,” he said. The houses in the 20th ward of Aymanam panchayat got submerged after the bund of the paddy field breached causing water to flow into the residential areas.  At the same time, the inmates complained they did not get any assistance from the authorities concerned and thus their camp could not be considered as anofficial relief camp. “We had intimated the authorities at the Regional Agriculture Research Station, Kumarakom, which is functioning as a relief camp now. However, we did not get any support so far,” said a camp member.

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