RANNI: Santhosh P R, 52, is a boatman at Aranmula ferrying people across the Pampa for the past 25 years, while 54-year-old Pradeep U D is a small time shop keeper near Pothummudu bridge at Perunad and 70-year-old C N Ravi is a flour mill owner at Vallakkadavu in Ranni for the past 20 years.
These three men live in different places within a radius of around 20 km. But after bearing the brunt of the flood, they now have a common fear, the monsoons. The rains are no more a reason for joy for them, but a foreboding that may completely debase their lives.
Till 2018, rainy days of the monsoon were cherished for fishing and swimming in the waters of the Pampa and small adjoining rivulets. But with the horrifying images of the flood that devastated their lives lingering on the back of their minds, these men now look at the Pampa with fear and hope the government will manage the dams properly this time.
“I have been living in Perunad since birth. We have seen heavy monsoons and the Pampa brimming many a time. But the August floods resulted from the unregulated opening of shutters of dams upstream,” said Ravi, who is yet to get compensation for the damage his flour mill suffered.
“The flour mill is my family’s livelihood and it took nearly two months to get the motor and other mechanical parts of the mill running. I am yet to repay the money which I borrowed for repairs,” he said.
For Santhosh, the Pampa has been his lifeline ever since he took up the job of a boatman. He knows the river better than anyone else and has seen how monsoon changes the nature of the river every year. “Last year’s flood caught me unawares. I have not seen the flooding of Pampa at that magnitude all my life. We really don’t know what is in stock this year. The flood has deposited a large quantity of sand on the river bed and the depth of the river has been badly affected. The river will not be able to accommodate rainwater and the level is expected to rise by another five to six feet this time. If the government fails to manage the flow of water from dams, things will be worse this year,” he said.
Sitting in his shop, a year after the flood that swept away all his stock, Pradeep is of the opinion the Pampa flooded ruthlessly because of the untimely opening of the shutters of Kakki and Anathode dams.“We have seen many monsoons and the river has never been flooded to the extent it did last year. If there is a heavy discharge of the water from the dams, the river is going to definitely overflow,” he said, adding that they will be closely watching the water-level from the day it starts to rain.“The authorities have not yet repaired the concrete rail on the bride which got damaged in the floods,” he added.