The Periyar, downstream of Idukki dam, has turned barren despite the rain. Only a few coconut trees remain on the dry riverbed, which was once cultivated with various crops. The debris of a few buildings serve as a grim reminder of the devastating floods.
It’s been just a week since people started returning to their houses in Thadiyampadu in Vazhathoppe grama panchayat. This was the second village to get flooded after Cheruthoni. Most of the shops in the village are still closed. It was a major trade centre before the floods took away everything. Now, only a few local people move around the town.
Kochuparambil Thomas Joseph, in his 80s, sits forlorn in the veranda of his damaged house. The protection wall has fully collapsed. The crops on his 1.5-acre of land were washed away in the surging waters. “I have lost all my savings,” he laments. The electronic equipment in the house is fully damaged. Joseph, along with his wife, was staying at his daughter’s house for close to a month since the floods. When he returned, the building was almost in a broken down state. There were heaps of debris inside the house. Joseph says he lost nearly 600 plantain trees. “No amount of compensation would bring life back on track.”
Joseph says he witnessed the floods 26 years back when the dam shutters were opened. However, the waters receded in a week then and did not cause such extensive damage.
Bridge rebuilt
The Thadiyampadu bridge across the Periyar was rebuilt a week ago. The bridge connects the village to Mariyapuram grama panchayat. Shops close to the bridge are yet to be opened. Joseph, a shop owner, says a portion of the building has been damaged. He said he did not get time to remove the items from his grocery shop before the waters engulfed it.
Rebuilding their livelihood is posing a major challenge to the residents of villages affected in the floods and landslips.
Sadasivan and his family was housed in the relief camp in a school building nearby. He later moved to a relative’s house. He returned to his house only three days ago. Sadasivan is a dairy farmer who lost his cattle and means of a livelihood in the floods. He also did odd jobs in farms nearby. “Now with no farmland remaining, who would give me work?” he asks.
He said farming was the main activity in the village and it would take years to rebuild it. Pepper, plantain and cardamom, the main crops, were heavily damaged. Various diseases have affected the plants.