When the sky over the Sabarimala forests turns overcast, pandemonium breaks out in Kurumbanmoozhy — a village surrounded by forests on three sides and the Pampa on the other side.
Villagers on the side of the Pampa or on the riverbanks rush to their homes. The phones keep ringing and children who are school will be asked to go back home. Clouds of worry loom large over the village till all its residents are reported safe.
There was no such sense of worry among the 400-odd families settled here. But all that changed in 2018 when floods ravaged the village.
The villagers have heightened their vigil as flood waters take over the causeway across the Pampa.
According to the local people, the causeway got submerged at least 15 times over the last two monsoons, cutting off the village from the mainland.
Isolated
This month, the residents here have been unable to leave their village even once following the discharge of excess water from the Sabarigiri reservoirs. The flood waters have receded, but there is no end to their woes.
Official sources attribute the recurring floods in the region to the silt brought about by the 2018 floods, which effectively lowered the height of the causeway. The construction of a hydroelectric project at Perumthenaruvi, a few hundred metres downstream, and the resultant accumulation of soil and debris too have contributed to the deluge.
“The response to any emergency in the village gets delayed if the causeway is not open as was evident during the landslips there last October. The rescue personnel had to negotiate an arduous drive of over an hour through the forests to reach the location,” pointed out an official.
The situation the same in Mukkom and Arayanjilimon, which too get isolated during the rainy seasons
Much to the relief of the villagers, the Public Works department has kick-started preliminary works on the design and estimate of a bridge to replace the causeway, informed the District Collector Divya S. Iyer.
For the time being, the authorities are also looking to construct a footbridge across the river , which along with the causeway, would eventually be replaced by a new bridge.
“The forest route will be made restored for vehicular traffic by invoking provisions of the Forest Rights Act,” the official added.
