ALAPPUZHA: According to Antony Moolamthara, a contemporary of Kunchappan and former teacher of Carmel Polytechnic, Alappuzha, it was the resilient nature of the farmers led by Kunchappan that scripted history. “The Irrigation Department constructed two stages of the bund and abandoned the third stage due to financial constraints; but the third stage which comes in the middle of the first and second stages was a necessity,” remembers 75-yearold Antony, a native of Thayankari.
“Then PWD Minister T K Divakaran visited the place to seek a solution. The department engineers told the minister that the construction of mud bund in the mid portion of the lake was very difficult because the middle part is more than 15 ft deep and the heavy current of the tidal effect would destroy the bund.” He says then Tiruvalla MLA E John Jacob consulted the farmers of Kuttanad as per the direction of the minister and also contacted Kunchappan about the construction. Kunchappan visited the area with the minister and took on the challenge; the bund was constructed in 21 days with the help of farmers and labourers from Kuttanad.
Antony remembers how a people’s committee was formed for the supervision with Kunchappan as the convener and Eapen Kandakudy, who later became Kuttanad MLA, as the joint convener. “The bund was constructed on a war footing and it made history in the country,” says Antony. He says then Alappuzha Collector Bharathan provided all support to Kunchappan.
“The bund was constructed with mud taken from the lake. For setting the marsh, they brought ‘kathira’ (a kind of reed) from Lakshmithoppu near Thottapally. The kathira was laid between the layers of mud for the construction,” says Antony. Many ministers, including then Chief Minister C Achutha Menon, Divakaran and many political leaders visited the site to see the sethubandhan.
Divakaran even convened a meeting to felicitate Kunchappan and the committee members at Alappuzha and appreciated his fortitude in managing the crisis. After the construction of the mud bund, a road was also formed which became a major lifeline connecting Kottayam and Alappuzha districts. Irrigation Department executive engineer R Rekha says the commissioning of the bund will be held by June. Before the commissioning, the mud embankment will be removed, she says.