Earlier this month, when the district received unprecedented rains, the Meenachil witnessed yet another flood with its water level peaking at 14.53 meters.
From the Wagamon valleys to Kumarkom, water ran over the human settlements and farmlands, triggering a race against time to rescue lives and property. As per estimates, the region had received a rainfall that was more than 24% higher than the average rainfall for the past three years.
But just three days later, it was a scene much different from the previous monsoons that welcomed the authorities. The floodwater that used to inundate the low-lying areas for weeks on end had mostly retreated and people quickly returned to their homes.
This was possible largely due to the Meenchilar-Meenantharayaar-Kodooraar River Linking Programme, a government-people initiative that came into being exactly three years ago this month. Through an aggregation of interminable activities, they have gradually restored the huge web of water bodies that run across Kottayam to make it a flood-less zone.
“We have revived 283 small and major streams having a total length of 1,500 kilometers, which expedited draining of the excess water to the Vembanad within 36 to 72 hours. Though water level in Meenachil crossed the previous peak recorded during the mega floods in 2018, the level of water in Kumarakom, which is the low-lying end, stood less than 2.75 ft compared to the same year,” explained K. Anilkumar, coordinator, river re-linking programme.
While the floods in 2018 had forced out hundreds of people from their homes in Kumarakom, much smaller number of families had to be shifted to the relief camp this time, he added.
As the collective set to celebrate its third anniversary on August 28, plans are now afoot to expand paddy cultivation to 7,000 acres from the present 4,550 acres through restoration of fallow lands. Further, the scope of flood-less Kottayam will be expanded to include the first order streams, which are active only during the monsoon and the smaller streams in the high ranges to the manage the water flow through the river.
Having restored a major part of the water network in the downstream of the Meenachil, the initiative has also set its eyes on rediscovering the Pazhukanila backwaters where the Kodoor and Meenachil rivers converge with the Vembanad lake.
