The devastating flood in August did not even left behind enough water for farmers to survive until the next monsoon. Most of the reservoirs have been dumped with silt and pebbles that they had to be opened to let out precious water.

The reservoirs' capacity has shrunken after the flood. Most of them had to be opened to comply with the Disaster Management Authority's direction to keep the water level at safe marks.

The reduced capacity casts clouds over the prospects of the next agricultural season in Kerala. The authorities have to clear the debris in the reservoirs to increase their capacity to store more water.

Mangalam dam

With a storage capacity of 25.48 million cubic metre, the Mangalam dam is one of the minor reservoirs in Kerala. About a fifth of its area has been filled with silt and stones released by landslides in the catchment areas. This is one of the reservoirs identified by the state government for an ambitious project to mine sand from. A detailed project report is pending the perusal of the government.

The silt is composed of 60 percent mud, 30 percent sand and 10 percent other objects.

The plan is to dump the fertile silt in farm lands which have lost their top soil to the flood. The silt can also be used for tile manufacturing and ceramic crafts. The sand could be used for construction.

Malampuzha dam

The Malampuzha dam has been in the centre of a controversy after a plan was mooted to mine sand from it. The largest dam in Palakkad district, the Malampuzha dam has a capacity of 226 million cubic metre. The dam has silt of 28.26 million cubic metre, according to a survey from 2015. This is expected to have gone up to at least 30 million cubic metre after the flood.

Kanjirappuzha dam

The Kanjirappuzha dam is one reservoir that was not affected by the flood. The reservoir still has as much as the pre-flood storage capacity. The dam had been opened for maintenance during the flood, preventing silting.

Chulliyar dam

The Chulliyar dam has silt of 1.13 million cubic metre, according to a study by the Kerala Engineering and Research Institute. The dam is included in a project by the government to mine sand from. It has a capacity of 11.70 cubic metres.

Meenkara dam

The dam with a storage capacity of 11.3 million cubic metre had about 1 million cubic metres of silt, according to an estimate from 2016. This share is guaranteed to have gone up after the flood.

Walayar dam

The dam must have about 1.43 million cubic metre of silt. The Kerala Engineering and Research Institute is expected to conduct a survey in the reservoir next month.

Pothundi dam

The Pothundi dam's storage capacity has been severely curtailed by the stones and silts originated in massive landslides at Nelliyampathi. The dam is estimated to have silt of 0.83 million cubic metre.