Four floods in eight years, why Manimala River has become ticking time bomb for central Kerala
The volatile Manimala River has transformed into a raging torrent once again, marking its fourth major flood in just eight years. With devastating inundations recorded in August 2018, September 2019, October 2021, and now the latest spell of torrential rain, local residents are left reeling. In
The volatile Manimala River has transformed into a raging torrent once again, marking its fourth major flood in just eight years. With devastating inundations recorded in August 2018, September 2019, October 2021, and now the latest spell of torrential rain, local residents are left reeling. In
The volatile Manimala River has transformed into a raging torrent once again, marking its fourth major flood in just eight years. With devastating inundations recorded in August 2018, September 2019, October 2021, and now the latest spell of torrential rain, local residents are left reeling. In
Thiruvalla: The volatile Manimala River has transformed into a raging torrent once again, marking its fourth major flood in just eight years. With devastating inundations recorded in August 2018, September 2019, October 2021, and now the latest spell of torrential rain, local residents are left reeling. In just three days, the river has turned highly destructive, with many riverside dwellers claiming the current flooding is more severe than the historic deluge of 2018.
According to hydrological data, the water level at the Kallooppara flood gauge peaked at a record 9.64 metres on 15 August 2018, heavily bolstered by backflow from the Pamba River. During the latest spell, the water level touched 8.7 metres. Although mathematically lower than the 2018 peak, the practical impact on the ground has been far more harrowing, leaving hundreds of homes submerged and families stranded.
A rapid rise and crippled transport links
While a similarly rapid rise occurred on 17 October 2021, this time the waters surged unexpectedly in the early hours of Sunday. The sudden deluge quickly inundated key arterial roads in the Mallappally and Thiruvalla taluks. Major transport links, including the Mallappally-Kozhencherry Road, Thiruvalla-Kumbazha Road, MC Road, and the Kallooppara-Mallappally Road, were submerged alongside nearly a hundred local roads, bringing life to a complete standstill.
Disappearing channels and ecological degradation
Experts and locals point to severe environmental degradation as the primary driver behind the worsening crises. The floodwaters simply have nowhere to drain. Over the years, key natural outlets, including smaller streams and feeding channels of the Manimala River, have either been blocked or completely reclaimed. The widespread reclamation of paddy fields, which traditionally acted as natural floodplains, has further exacerbated the run-off, leaving towns like Kuttoor resembling the perennially flood-prone Ranni.
The miracle of Varattar
During the catastrophic 2018 floods, the Pamba and Manimala rivers merged, spreading across a vast five-kilometre expanse. It was nothing short of a miracle that the rivers did not permanently alter their courses. During those dark days, water surged back and forth between the Pamba and Manimala, turning Kuttoor panchayat into an isolated island. Had the Varattar River, which snakes between the two major river systems, not acted as a vital buffer and absorbed the colossal volume of floodwater, the very geography and boundaries of Kuttoor, Nedumbram, and Edanad would have been permanently redrawn.