Alappuzha: “We’ve been living with knee-deep water both inside and outside the house. If it doesn’t rain for a couple of days, the level goes down a bit and then it’s back again,” said residents of Ayyanad Padasekharam, which spans over 1,000 acres under the Pulinkunnu Krishi Bhavan. Around 500 families remain marooned in this low-lying region, their daily lives paralysed by persistent flooding.

For 92-year-old Rukmini of Anchilchira in Mankombu Chathurthiakary, the misery is unrelenting. “I’m falling sick from having to walk through water all the time. When it gets too cold, I just put my legs up on a chair. We can’t even start the second paddy crop. For heaven’s sake, drain this water!” she pleads, standing amid water hyacinths washing up to her doorstep.

The situation becomes critical during medical emergencies. When Ammini, wife of C Viswambaran of Pushpamangalath house, fell ill recently, it took two hours to get her to a hospital just two kilometres away. With no motorable access, she had to be ferried by country boat to reach the nearest road.

The flooding began after the April cultivation period, when the fields became waterlogged. Summer rains and the monsoon followed in quick succession. The result is an unrelenting, stagnant flood that has not only submerged fields but seeped into homes. Only a few newly built houses, constructed on elevated foundations, have escaped flooding indoors, but even these are now surrounded by water. Students wade through flooded lanes to reach school. Adults head to work the same way.

Despite being surrounded by water, drinking water is scarce. Most families rely on rainwater harvesting using plastic sheets. “We fill pots to pour into the tank when it rains heavily,” said Shiny. Ironically, the potable water is collected while standing knee-deep in floodwater. Some even strain rainwater running off moss-covered rooftops through cloth to use it for cooking. This has been the situation for most people living inside the polder networks, where the second cycle of paddy cultivation has not yet begun.

Though residents have repeatedly brought their plight to the attention of authorities and local representatives, no lasting solution has emerged. Their collective question, “How long must we live like this, in water?” remains unanswered.