Even as Kuttanad gets inundated regularly, the much-hyped ‘Room for the River’ project mooted to tackle floods in the region remains a non-starter.
‘Room for the River’, based on the Dutch model of flood control, was announced by the State government in May 2019 after a high-level delegation led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan visited the project site in the Netherlands. The concept aims to create more room for rivers to flow thus enabling better floodwater management. The government considers it best suited for the flood-prone areas in the State especially in the Kuttanad region spread across Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, and Kottayam districts.
The implementation of the project in Kuttanad, according to Irrigation department officials, has been delayed due to a lag on the part of the Indian Institute of Technology (Madras) [IIT-Madras], which has been entrusted with conducting a hydrodynamic study, in submitting the final report. Though the IIT-Madras had submitted a report last year, officials said that it was “debatable” and they had been asked to make changes and submit a revised report.
The State government plans to implement the project under the Rebuild Kerala Initiative (RKI). Several proposals have been made to reduce flooding in low-lying Kuttanad, which include desiltation of major rivers, completion of the Alappuzha-Changanassery (AC) canal and linking it to the river, controlling the flow of floodwater in rivers by constructing regulators and redirecting excess water to the sea, and so on. Officials, however, said that it would be “premature” to comment on the components of the ‘Room for the River’ project until the IIT-Madras submitted the final report.
Shyam Gopal, chief engineer, Kuttanad Package, said the government hoped to receive the report from IIT-Madras next week. “We are waiting for the recommendations of IIT-Madras. Once they submit the report, discussions will be held at various levels of the government and with all stakeholders. We need to ensure the project does not adversely affect the people of the region before seeking the RKI’s approval for the project,” Mr. Gopal said.
