It has been a tough few months for septuagenarian Indira Sahadevan of Aruvathilchira colony sandwiched between the green expanse of Mecherivakka paddy polder and Pampa river at Mankombu (Pulinkunnu grama panchayat) in Kuttanad.
She was forced to shuttle the last four months of 2021 between her small home and a relief camp after the colony got inundated first by floodwaters and then by the intrusion of seawater through the Thanneermukkom barrage. Though the flood threat eased at the turn of the year, the elderly woman along with 38 families living in close quarters in the colony are now up against another recurrent issue- an acute shortage of safe drinking water.
"Floods or potable water crisis, water remains the biggest problem in our lives year-round," laments Ms. Sahadevan. "I won't say water scarcity is more severe now than in the monsoon period. Be it rainy season or summer, we lack enough clean water to quench our thirst," she says.
The Pampa river, which overflowed its banks and brought untold misery to the residents only a few months ago, is flowing gently. Thulasi and a couple of other women are washing clothes and utensils at the river ghat in front of the colony. "We are well aware that this water is contaminated with all kinds of pollutants including chemical pesticides and fertilizers used in the paddy fields in the region. But we are left with no other choice. We use this water for bathing, washing clothes and cooking. During extreme situations, we also use it for drinking purposes after boiling," says Thulasi.
Though the water connection of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has reached the colony, residents say that they have not seen a single drop of water falling from the three public taps there for the past couple of years.
Their only source of drinking water is a Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant. "The plant is providing water at ₹1 per litre. Its functioning, however, is irregular. Most of us make a living on daily wages and MGNREGA work. We can't afford to buy bottled or potable water. Our young children are sometimes forced to drink the mucky and contaminated water," says Chinju R., a resident of the colony, adding "we no more fear floods. All we want is safe drinking water."
The colony has reported at least half-a-dozen cancer cases in recent years, which the residents blame on the ingestion of unsafe water.
Elsewhere in Pulinkunnu and other parts of Kuttanad, a place known for its palm-fringed backwaters, rivers and vast paddy fields where cultivation is done below sea level, people have similar stories to share. Despite being water-logged and facing recurring floods, Kuttanad with a population of around two lakh remains water-starved. A ride through the roads in Pulinkunnu and nearby Kavalam reveals the grave situation the residents are facing. There are some 200 public taps in the region and they all remain dry. Large plastic water tanks (3,000 litres) being placed by the side of roads, which act as water kiosks, are empty as water filling is yet to begin.
"All our rainwater harvesting pits have been destroyed in floods. Almost all the ponds, wells and other water sources have either gone dry or remain unusable. Most of the RO plants remain dysfunctional. Nowadays, on average, a family is spending anywhere between ₹500 and ₹1,000 per month to buy drinking water from tankers who bring it from Thiruvalla and other places. For this, we need to pre-book and then wait another 4-5 days for the water to arrive. For other household activities, we draw water from the river or use mucky water in ponds and wells," says Gopakumar P., a social worker and a resident of Kavalam.
While the residents of Kavalam are facing an acute shortage of clean water, a good number of iron rods, pipes and a small structure are getting rusted and damaged on a small parcel of land near the Government Lower Primary School, Kavalam. The KWA had plans to construct an overhead tank there as part of the Kuttanad drinking water project. But after the piling work, the project got stalled more than a decade ago.
The Kuttanad drinking water scheme was launched in 1973 to provide water to people in 13 grama panchayats. But it remains an unfinished project almost five decades later. Water was initially pumped from a 22 MLD treatment plant at Kattode near Thiruvalla. Later, a 14 MLD plant was constructed at Neerattupuram a decade ago and borewells were drilled in several places. Since 1973, around 1,500 km of pipelines had been laid along with the construction of overhead tanks in a number of panchayats. Apart from Edathua, Muttar and Thalavady where water is provided intermittently, no other local bodies in the region are getting regular water supply. The drinking water situation is dire in Neelamperoor, Kavalam, Pulinkunnu, Veliyanad and Kainakary.
"Kuttanad drinking water project is a comedy of errors," says a retired official of the KWA. "Kuttanad, a low-lying area, has different geography compared to other places. It has clayey soil, which is not conducive for laying pipelines. The pipes were laid through paddy fields, under rivers, canals and so on without any study. Several pipes have been damaged over the course of time and finding leaks remain a challenge like in the case of those laid under the water. Further, a number of pipelines are yet to be charged, interconnected and connected to the source. Roads and other structures have been built over the pipelines in a number of places. In short, several crores have been spent on the project without any fruitful results," the former official says.
While the local residents and experts place the blame squarely on the KWA for its failure to ensure adequate water supply to Kuttanad, it should be noted that a drastic decline and degradation of traditional water sources like ponds have played a part in aggravating the situation. "There was a time when we used to drink water directly from rivers and backwaters. But no more. Roughly 25,000 tonnes of chemical fertilizers, insecticides and fungicides are used annually in paddy fields in the region and water from fields is released directly to rivers and canals. A majority of water sources in Kuttanad are contaminated," says Mr. Gopakumar.
Meanwhile, the KWA is set to launch the work on Kuttanad Drinking Water Project Phase II in the coming months. Officials said that a new 30 MLD water treatment plant at Neerattupuram, 13 overhead tanks in as many panchayats, 46 km of transmission lines and around 900 km of distribution network would be created at a cost of ₹289.54 crore sanctioned under the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board. "The process of acquiring 1.25 acres of land at Neerattupuram is in the final stages. The work on the plant will begin by the end of this year. We hope the completion of Phase II will bring a lasting solution to the drinking water woes in Kuttanad," says A. Sheeja, superintending engineer, KWA, Alappuzha.
The former KWA official, however, calls for a detailed study to identify the real problem in Kuttanad. "No earnest effort has been made yet to understand the problem and what went wrong in Kuttanad. The KWA should consider Kuttanad a special place and ensure the effectiveness of a particular project before implementing it. It should set up ground-level storage tanks and pump houses near all overhead tanks. This will help route water to overhead tanks through ground level tanks, which in turn will decrease pressure in pipelines and could prevent pipe bursts," he says. .
