Heavy rain that lashed Alappuzha since Thursday evening inundated several low-lying areas in the district.
Officials said that three houses, two in Kuttanad taluk and one in Chengannur, were damaged in the rain on Saturday. A house was damaged in Karthikappally after a tree fell on them on Friday.
Floodwaters entered a large number of houses in Cherthala and Alappuzha towns as the Alappuzha-Cherthala canal and other channels breached their banks. Uprooted trees damaged electricity poles and snapped power lines.
In Kuttanad, large tracts of paddy fields with standing crops, including those ready for harvest, have been submerged in water. In fields that were to go under combine harvesters on Saturday and in the coming days, crops lie flat forcing farmers to postpone harvest. Though measures have been taken to dewater the fields, farmers will have to wait to deploy combine harvesters as the machines would get stuck in the mud.
Farmers have undertaken paddy farming on 8,765 hectares in the additional (second) crop season in the district, a major portion of which is in Kuttanad. They fear that incessant rains coupled with an increase in flow of floodwaters from the eastern side would worsen the situation.
Agriculture Minister P. Prasad who chaired a meeting in connection with the harvest of the second crop on Saturday said the unexpected rains had affected the paddy harvest. Mr. Prasad said the harvest and procurement would be completed in a timebound manner. The meeting fixed the rental rate for harvesters at a maximum of ₹2,000 per hour.
The weather agency has declared a yellow alert for Alappuzha for isolated heavy rainfall on Sunday.
