ALAPPUZHA: The residents of Parayanchal in Thanneermukkom panchayat have taken up a different initiative to save their region from flooding. They are engaged in the arduous task of removing silt accumulated in village brooks, which are almost filled due to lack of maintenance over the years. They are not cleaning the canals in traditional ways like removing waste, but this time they are deepening the canals to drain out water quickly from the area so that flooding does not happen again.
According to Raveendran, a farm labourer who is a part of the initiative, the owners of land used to deepen canals every year by removing the accumulated silt to increase their carrying capacity. “However, owing to lack of availability of farm labourers and increase in wages, landowners stopped the cleaning works. As the silt mined from the brook is a good bio-manure for coconut trees, it used to be deposited in the bunds where coconut trees were planted.
But coconut farming in bunds has come down in recent years owing to mite attack. As the number of coconut trees came down, landowners abandoned silt removal and this is a major reason for flooding in villages throughout the year,” Raveendran said. The novel initiative of canal deepening was undertaken by ‘Team Parayanchal,’ an organisation of youths of Thanneermukkom. R Sabeesh, the coordinator of the team, said that lack of conservation of brooks is the major reason for waterlogging in the village.
“In my childhood days, many people were engaged in canal deepening works in April- May. The silt removed from the canal was used for filling the bunds where coconut trees stood. Now coconut cultivation has almost vanished from villages after pest attacks. So farmers have abandoned deepening works and this has led to waterlogging in villages and houses that may extend for more than nine months every year. Hundreds of residents of Punathikari, Kochukari, Kuntharakari, Manchadikari, Mannummelkari and Pulayankari are bearing the brunt of waterlogging,” Sabeesh said.
Dr K G Padmakumar, agriculture scientist and director of International Research and Training Centre for Below Sea Level Farming, said that the major reason for waterlogging in villages of Kuttanad is lack of depth of canals. “Earlier, farmers regularly carried out ‘kattakuthal’, (deepening of canals by removing clay) and it helped increase the carrying capacity of water bodies. The deepening work was not done for the past many decades, which led to disastrous consequences. In many areas mud began to slip into canals. The only solution to maintain the level of land is by filling it with silt. Otherwise, Kuttanad will continuously face disasters in the coming decades,” Padmakumar said.
The initiative of ‘Team Parayanchal’ is the beginning of the revival of waterlogged villages of Kuttanad. The organisers have deputed 10 workers to deepen the brooks with the help of landowners and public. The initiative that began on Sunday was named ‘Thodulsavam.’ Clay is being removed manually to facilitate natural flow of water. To find the money for the works, the team is organising a magic show on April 17, said Sabeesh, who had earlier drawn attention for his initiative to remove plastic waste from canals of Thanneermukkom.