Pinarayi's Dutch dream for flood-proof state: Netherlands made Room for River in 5 yrs, Kerala’s ₹4.5 cr plan in troubled waters
Kerala’s flood mitigation plans, inspired by Dutch 'Room for River', have stalled due to inaction and departmental overlap. Feasibility studies are delayed, and river basin management is limited to issued orders, leaving no concrete plans for monsoon floods.
Kerala’s flood mitigation plans, inspired by Dutch 'Room for River', have stalled due to inaction and departmental overlap. Feasibility studies are delayed, and river basin management is limited to issued orders, leaving no concrete plans for monsoon floods.
Kerala’s flood mitigation plans, inspired by Dutch 'Room for River', have stalled due to inaction and departmental overlap. Feasibility studies are delayed, and river basin management is limited to issued orders, leaving no concrete plans for monsoon floods.
After the 2018 floods, Kerala had two ambitious plans to counter the effects of monsoon — the Dutch-inspired Room for River and the Integrated River Basin Management plan. None of these projects ever took off. The Water Resources Department, which handles both the projects, was recently told that even the feasibility study for the Room for River scheme could not be conducted since the Town Planning department already undertakes a similar study. As for the river basin management plan, only an order was issued; no meetings were held to take it forward, admit officials.
This means Kerala has no concrete plans to deal with short-duration, intense spells during monsoon which cause flash floods across districts. Kerala’s then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his team flew to the Netherlands in 2019; they were so inspired by the Room for River project that it was decided to emulate the same in Kerala.
The Dutch Government's project aims at managing high water levels in rivers by lowering flood-level plains, constructing flood bypasses, deepening side channels and includes over 30 projects; most of which were completed by 2022. The Dutch began implementing the scheme in 2017.
Kerala's plan was less ambitious. It chose the Pampa River for the first phase. Revamp of the Thottappally spillway and the AC canal was the objective. The government gave administrative sanction for an amount of ₹4.5 crore for the preparation of a detailed project report, and ₹1.38 crore was allotted for the same. As per the plan, the flood waters from the Kuttanad region could be drained off quickly, preventing paddy fields and houses from being inundated. A team from IIT Chennai was entrusted with the hydrodynamic study.
The project had five key objectives: strengthening bunds, flood regulators in Pampa and Achankovil to redirect flood water to Thottappally, Alappuzha-Changanassery canal to direct water from Manimala to Pallathuruthy canal, small canals to bring water to Thottappally and a retaining wall to prevent silting at Thottappally.
C K Sreekala, Chief Engineer, Inland Navigation and Kuttanad Package, told Onmanorama that the IIT study report had to be followed by a feasibility study. "We submitted an estimate for a feasibility study to the Rebuild Kerala Initiative cell. We were told that the Town Planning department already does a Lidar survey for the Pampa basin and we can use that. We now wait for the Town Planning department to complete the survey," said Sreekala.
If the Dutch made a plan in 2017 and implemented more than half of the 30 projects in five years, Kerala couldn't even complete a feasibility study in seven years. In June 2025, the Water Resources Department issued an order to prepare an Integrated River Basin Management plan. The plan was to enforce efficient management in the conservation and regulatory practices for water resources in Kerala and develop Integrated State Water plans/master plans for each of its river systems and implement them in a time-bound manner. The framework had various committees, and the apex committee is headed by the Chief Minister. The river basin level committee is chaired by the District Collector.
Kerala approved the plan after considering key factors. The bulk of rainfall is received in Kerala during the southwest monsoon. A combination of intense rainfall in the high ranges with a drastic elevation difference over a short distance causing peak runoffs, combined with flat terrain towards the western coast, presents the conditions for flooding like that witnessed in August of 2018.
The state has 2,590 lakes and ponds spread across an area of approximately 800 sq km, an intricate stream network extending to about 9,000 km with a dense system of tributaries and distributaries feeding the 44 rivers, as well as around 300 perennial springs and extensive wetlands which cover approximately 1,648 sq km. Still, the natural system fails to contain the floods due to mismanagement; hence, a framework was planned.
Sreedevi P, Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Administration, said that apart from the order, no concrete action was taken. "We are not aware of any meetings being held after the order was issued. It involves several departments. Considering the present situation, we have initiated talks to execute the framework," Sreedevi said.