KOCHI: People living on the bank of Periyar and its tributaries are a worried lot. The copious amount of rain followed by the news that the dams are brimming has only increased their worry. They blame it all to the apathy of the authorities on removing the silt that has accumulated in the river bed decreasing its holding capacity by 50 per cent.

“We have been asking everyone right from the chief minister to the district collector to initiate some action. But nothing has happened. We were hopeful that we might see some action when the Irrigation Department said it would be dredging the river bed. But that too didn’t materialise,” said Sadasivan Pillai, president, Kadungalloor branch of Ernakulam District Residents’ Associations’ Action Council (EDRAAC).

Recently, after much hullabaloo, the local self-government body had dredged some of the tributaries of the river, he added. “The body had even earmarked Rs 85 lakh for the same. But all they did was to deposit the silt on the banks which has now gone back into the water along with the rain,” said Sadasivan. Who they are trying to fool, he asked.

According to him, once the dams are opened, all the houses on the banks besides low-lying areas will get flooded. “Flooding has been happening since 2013. But the frequency increased recently,” said Sadasivan. So as a final resort, the residents have written a letter to the district collector seeking his help. “Though we believe that the flood of 2018 happened due to mismanagement of dams, this time around it will be due to official apathy in taking timely action,” he said. “Though the chief minister has entrusted the chief secretary with taking action, nothing has been done. Tender had been called to remove silt and sand from the  Periyar bed. But it is all that has been done. Since the depth of the river has decreased, the water level increases in a matter of hours,” he said. According to V Gopakumar, state general secretary, BDJS, it is all an elaborate scam.

“The officials say water will flow out into the sea. But that happens only during the low tide,” he said. “Why blanket your inefficiency in dealing with a profound situation that will affect hundreds of people with foolish excuses,” he asked. According to him, not only Periyar, the situation is the same in all the other major rivers and also the dams. “The silt and sand that got accumulated during the 2018 flood need to be removed to allow the natural flow of water. But that won’t happen. Even the collector who is so keen on seeing ‘Operation Breakthrough’ through isn’t interested in dealing with the problem,” said Gopakumar.

Residents seek permission to form a task force. Since the officials are doing pretty nothing, the residents have decided to form a task force that will work towards preventing a repeat of 2018. According to Sadasivan, the water level in the Periyar rose uncontrollably during the monsoon of 2019. “It breached the banks within hours and numerous places in our neighbourhood got isolated. This resulted in a lot of people and domestic animals getting marooned.

Hence to prevent a repeat of 2019, we need the support of the authorities who can provide information which will in turn help evacuate people in time,” he said. So to prepare an emergency plan to protect the residents living along the banks in case of a flood, we have decided to formulate an evacuation plan, he said. “We have written a letter to the collector seeking his approval. We aim to get information, set up communication systems and plan actions at the right time so that people will be ready to face emergency in advance,” added Sadasivan.

The mission

Forming task force with the help of local administration authorities.
Gathering information about already existing government mechanisms.
Making a detailed action plan with the involvement of panchayat.
Mapping the floods of 2018 and 2019 to identify the failure modes.
Advance information about specific evacuation procedures, including routes and exits.
Detailed work instruction on ‘emergency functions and who will perform what.’
Getting the advice of global experts from the government level through the district collector.
Final standard operating procedure certified by the government authorities to address the failure modes.