A study by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) on local level problems and solutions to floods in Lower Kuttanad has called for better coordination between grama panchayats and ‘padashekara samithis’ (local committees of paddy farmers) for effective flood management in the region.
The report titled ‘Floods in Lower Kuttanad and Kayal Lands: A Manifesto for Grama Panchayats’ says the flood risks and inundation period vary padashekharam-wise (paddy polder) irrespective of their geographical location. Instead of keeping wards as the lowest governance units, the report suggests making padasekharams the unit of planning and intervention. “The convergence of grama panchayat and padashekara samithi are essential for effective flood management,” reads the report, which was prepared based on studies conducted in Nedumudi and Kainakary.
A detailed padasekharam-wise participatory situation assessment is essential to arrive at contextual solutions and priorities of interventions. “A new framework of planning must be explored bringing together the grama panchayat, residents, and the padashekhara samithi in the region. The flood mitigation, adaptation, and resilience plans should be incorporated in the annual plans of the panchayat,” recommends the research team led by Prof. N.C.Narayanan of IIT Bombay.
It calls local bodies to lead flood mitigation activities through canal de-siltation, maintenance and repairing of bunds, and reconstruction of unscientifically designed roads and culverts. “Grama panchayats need to engage in flood adaptation and resilience planning to reduce impacts of floods. This is important to equip the communities to ‘live with floods’ that is inevitable for a place like Kainakary,” while noting that micro floods (flooding that happen regionally with a prolonged inundation period up to two months) are very frequent and happened up to seven times in the last three years in many parts of Kainakary as a result of bund breach and dwindling capacity of canals.
The report says that with outer bunds restricting the entry of floodwater into the padashekharams, there are high chances of silt getting trapped in the lakes and canals, which might reduce the carrying capacity of water bodies. “It would require an empirical study to verify this phenomenon.”
It notes that bio-bunds cannot be recommended as a universal technology.
“The pilot experiment of bio-bunds in Nedumudi points to a sustainable way of constructing and maintaining bunds using local resources and local capacity. However, this technology might be challenging in many parts of Kainakary due to its location at the mouth of three rivers where the flow rate is high with huge tidal activity. The bunds become vulnerable also due to water traffic through the rivers and the Vembanad lake.”
Noting that the impact of flood varies with respect to the biophysical and socio-economic conditions of locality even within a grama panchayat, a locally devised Panchayat Disaster Risk Reduction Plan to help identify the most vulnerable groups and in prioritising the interventions has been recommended.
On the need for better septage management, the study calls for designing “appropriate on-site sanitation systems that suit the high water table and flood context of Kuttanad.” Decentralised technologies should be introduced to resolve drinking water issues in Kainakary. The MGNREGA workforce should be utilised in sustainable infrastructure building for flood management, water, and sanitation.
