As rain and floods wreaked havoc across the state, many people lost lives and property worth crores of rupees. Once the floodwaters receded, people have started returning to their house from relief camps. But the situation in many parts of Kuttanad is different. Flooding is a perennial problem here. And there is no immediate relief to those stranded in the region as flood waters still make life hell for them. Take the case of Nagamma of Paruthuvalavu in Kainakari in Kuttanad.
The sexagenarian farmer has been living in a temporary shed erected on the elevated bridge close to her house for the past 78 days in waterlogged Kuttamangalam. The temporary house was erected using tarpaulin sheets. The other inmates of this makeshift shelter include her husband, Gopalakrishnan, 72, and son Biju, 38. Surrounded by water, they stare at an uncertain future.
Beneath their temporary shelter is their original house. It is knee deep in water. Cracks have appeared on the walls and it is not safe to live in the house that may collapse any time.
"Where will we go once the flood waters recede? We have only five cents of land and a submerged house. For the past 60 years, we have been living on the bund taking up farming. There is no option to escape from the everlasting deluge. Nature's fury and officials' apathy forced us to live in muddy waters all these days," laments the hapless woman.
It is not Nagamma's plight alone. Over 250 families in Kainakari panchayat in lower Kuttanad face a similar or worse situation. They have been living in neck-deep water for the past 78 days. The houses situated on the paddy polders of Paruthuvalavu and Valiyathuruth got submerged after the outer bund broke in the rush of rainwater.
Those living in the area were relocated to elevated houses. Some sought refuge in relatives' houses. The Revenue Department opened gruel centres and it was the only relief to them. During the first flood that hit Kuttanad this rainy season, they had to shift to elevated areas of the village. But the situation turned worse in the second flood that ravaged the region on August 15. All their hopes of returning to their homes were shattered by the surging floodwaters. All they could do was to run away to high lands with whatever they could carry.
Now most of the people in the area are in relief camps. Owing to the breaching of bund, the home of Sasiyamma, another farmer, was destroyed and all her properties and documents were washed away.
Now, the Irrigation Department has begun construction of the bund, but it is not sure when it will be completed.
According to B K Vinod, member, Kainakari panchayat, the local body and the Irrigation Department had begun construction of the bund. "But the massive flood destroyed everything. The panchayat has restarted work. It will take one or two weeks to construct the bund and pump water out of the polder. Only after the completion of the process that people will be able to reoccupy their houses. Many houses are not safe as cracks have appeared on the walls and a few ones have collapsed. So the rebuilding of Kainakari seems to be a tough task," Vinod said.