Kerala floods: A ground report from Thiruvalla, Pathanamthitta

To begin by saying it is unprecedented makes no sense. That it is. We all know that, but I don’t think the rest of the country has understood the extent of damage inflicted by incessant rain on the linear coastal state of Kerala.

By August 8, the flooding had begun. The Kochi airport was closed for a few hours, but it was reopened. Rain was always manageable in the state, or so we believed. Unlike in many other parts of the country, life doesn’t stop in Kerala during rains. We simply carry an umbrella and go about our daily duties, albeit with a bit of inconvenience, which includes getting wet. As the Kochi airport had reopened, we believed that the state would function, relief would reach, camps would be set up and nature would calm down, as it always has.

But, this time it wasn’t to be so.

The first inkling of that came when homes near River Pampa started flooding early on August 15. By around 4 am, homes were flooded, frantic calls were made. But, even then everyone thought, the waters would recede. The river had never flooded in anyone’s lifetime. Alappuzha, on the west coast, has a history of being flooded, but not the rest of Kerala. Not the plains, not the high ranges, which include Pullad, Kozhencherry, Ranni, Idukki, Munnar.

Then the rains began by the night of August 14. Not the sneeze that we call rain in Delhi and other parts. It was pouring buckets, if one had to use a clichéd phrase to explain it. And it didn’t stop for almost 48 hours.

On August 15, roads leading to hilly Ranni started to flood, landslides were reported, smaller river tributaries were filled to the brim and had begun to overflow. But, no one imagined this water would enter their homes. Children, youngsters and parents flocked to these areas to see the flow of the water. For a brief period, it was fun. No one had seen rain this way or the river in spate to understand its consequences. Slowly, it started rising. Roads were getting blocked, water entered homes. People moved their stuff upstairs as most people live in duplexes. They still thought the water would recede in a few hours. Even though the rain hadn’t stopped for almost 24 hours.

But on August 16, the news from other parts of the state started to trickle in. Most of Aluva was submerged. Thiruvananthapuram, which gets minimal rain, had flooded. The hottest and driest part in Kerala, Palakkad, was completely submerged. Kannur and Malappuram were cut off; there were landslides and many died. Visuals of a landslide in Kannur numbed most viewers. Kozhikode was reeling under water. High range areas—Idukki, Munnar, Attappadi—were completely isolated. Landslides had destroyed the roads and there was no way to reach. The Periyar river had flooded as water was not being released from Mullaperiyar Dam by Tamil Nadu and this submerged Kochi airport and most of Aluva with it. News of refusal of the Tamil Nadu Government was met with incredulity as Kerala had offered help during the Chennai floods. Kochi airport, which rarely shuts down, has been closed down until August 26. The entire airport is submerged. This silenced the rest of those who thought ‘this too shall pass’.

Then the news came that Muvattupuzha, near Cochin, had flooded. Pala on the banks of River Meenachil flooded and their ‘much loved’ MLA KM Mani was nowhere to be found.

Almost all the other leaders were assisting with the flood relief whereever they could without using it to gain mileage—positive or negative. But, of course there were exceptions. And this time it was veteran CPI(M) leader VS Achuthanandan and Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala. Both decided to pick on the state government.

Soon, some saw and others heard that Chengannur in Alappuzha district was flooding, as was Venikulam, Kozhencherry, Pullad and Nellad in Pathanamthitta. Kozhencherry, through where Pampa river flows, is dry even in Feb-March, when the Maramon Convention is held on the dry river bed. It is this river which had flooded and is still in spate. It was then people realised that there may not be a let-up in the rains and if they didn’t move, they would drown. Homes of most of my family members had flooded. My almost-blind grandfather was moved to higher ground with the help of some relatives. We couldn’t reach him as all the routes to his house — Thirumoolapuram, Kuttoor, Kallissery and Mundancavu — had flooded.

Some had the presence of mind to leave as soon as the water entered their homes, while others waited till they were chest-deep in water. Vehicles and live stock had of course become useless by this point. Both were dead and some floating.

There were pockets in all places that hadn’t flooded, but that was just because of the lay of the land.

Many schools and colleges had students stranded, as did hospitals with patients. Food ran out, there was no electricity and if at all water, it was only because of rain water harvesting or water drawn from wells. In hospitals too, there was no power, food was over and ventilators had to be shut down. All mobile networks were turning to be useless, except for good old BSNL. Calls were simply not going through. It led to panic as many could not reach their parents, neighbours, siblings or friends. What came in handy for a few were the emergency lines run by news channels.

The sun set on August 16 with heavy rains. We went to sleep with the thrumming of the rains. But, on August 17, the skies were clear at least in the morning. There was a slight let up in the rains in the catchment area of Idukki dam and in some parts of Kerala. Pathanamthitta continued to be on the edge, but there was a sigh of momentary relief.

It was followed by the realisation that there would still be no electricity, water and the mobile networks weren’t functional either. Calls were not connecting, neither was there electricity to catch up on what was happening in the rest of the state. Supplies were over in almost all shops, including the ones that hardly had any business. Medical stores aren’t open; milk and bread aren’t available; it has run out. Banks were shut and still are and ATMs have no money. Petrol pumps have no fuel, even if one wanted to be adventurous. The ones that have are being kept in reserve for government officials in almost all towns. Relief camps are overflowing with people. Some have no water, but food is being provided in most. And latrine facilities are not consistent in all camps.

In all of this, the state government assisted by the defence forces was and is doing its best against nature’s fury. It has been raining for almost two months without any let up. Kerala has seen 257% more rainfall than normal. Between August 9 and August 15, the state had an average rainfall of 352 mm, as against the normal of 98.5 mm.

Helicopters were called in to rescue; mechanised boats were put in service. Fishermen offered help as did everyone who could. Policemen and government officials are on duty non-stop. Help wasn’t reaching many places and those who could, sent tippers to rescue friends and family. Many are offering and supplying food to relief camps. Humanity was triumphing.

The Central government was simply paying lip service to assistance and this forced the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to ask citizens to contribute to the Relief Fund. To put it in perspective, ₹3,000 crore is being spent on a statue by the Central government and ₹100 crore is what the Modi government gave Kerala.

When the rains abate by Sunday as IMD says they will, that is still not the end of any of the problems. More will only begin. Once the rains stop, Alappuzha will continue to flood. They will see no relief for months to come. This will be followed by water-borne diseases, including cholera, dengue and chikungunya. Then state relief has to be given to those who have lost everything in these floods. It will take more than six months for the state to limp back to some semblance of normalcy.

Also Read: Kerala Floods LIVE Updates