Kuttanad
From ePedia, the electronic encyclopedia
Kuttanad in Kerala, India is the lowest region of India, with 500 square kilometres of the region below sea level. Its elevation ranges from 0.6 m above to 2.2 metres below sea level. Most of the area is waterlogged throughout the year. Kuttanad is one of the few places in the world where farming is carried out below sea level. The region has a population of 1.8 million and comes under the Alappuzha district.
Four major Kerala rivers, the Pampa, Meenachil, the Achankovil and the Manimala flow into Kutinad. Despite being surrounded by water, there are acute potable water shortages, with water supplied only twice a week.
Crops grown in Kuttinad include rice, bananas, casava and yams.
A Houseboat in the
Kuttanad backwater.Tannermukkam Bundh
The major occupation in Kuttanad is farming. The most commonly grown crop is rice. Three crops are grow every year now instead of the traditional two per year. Large farming areas near Vembanad Lake were actually retrieved from the lake. The king decreed that whoever retains land can own it leading massive redemption of land from the lake. As the farming in the area increased farmers felt themselves constrained by the two cycles a year for rice cultivation. The reason for which is the availability of potable water in Kuttanad. During the monsoon seasons, the water from the mountains flow through the rivers to the sea, bringing potable water to Kuttanad. But during summer, due to the low level of the region, seawater enters Kuttanad and makes the salt content of the water high making it unpotable. During 1968, government of India proposed a project, in which a bundh (Dam) will be made across the river so that seawater will not be allowed to come inside Kuttanad during summer, allowing farmers to cultivate and extra cycle per year. The project was planned in three phases, the south side, the north side and another phase to join the two sections. The project was delayed and by the time the first two phases were complete the entire money alloted for the project ran out and left the final phase in limbo. The farmers who were expecting lots of financial benefits after the completion of the project decided to take matters into their own hands and one night in 1972, a large group of farmers filled the gap between the north and the south side with earth. To this day, the earth embankment between the two sections of the bundh remains.
Eventhough the bundh has improved the quality of life of the farmers, the bundh is alleged to have caused severe environmental problems. The backwaters which were abundant with fish and part of the staple food of the people of the region require a small amount of salt water for their breeding. The bundh has caused deterioration of the catch of fish in the region and the fishermen are opposed to the bundh as of 2005. The bundh has also disrupted the harmony of the sea with the backwaters and has caused problems not forseen before the bundh like the omniprescence of the water weeds. Earlier the salt water tends to cleanse the backwaters but this does not happen any more leading to the pollution of the backwaters and the entire land nearby.
Four major Kerala rivers, the Pampa, Meenachil, the Achankovil and the Manimala flow into Kutinad. Despite being surrounded by water, there are acute potable water shortages, with water supplied only twice a week.
Crops grown in Kuttinad include rice, bananas, casava and yams.
A Houseboat in the
Kuttanad backwater.
The major occupation in Kuttanad is farming. The most commonly grown crop is rice. Three crops are grow every year now instead of the traditional two per year. Large farming areas near Vembanad Lake were actually retrieved from the lake. The king decreed that whoever retains land can own it leading massive redemption of land from the lake. As the farming in the area increased farmers felt themselves constrained by the two cycles a year for rice cultivation. The reason for which is the availability of potable water in Kuttanad. During the monsoon seasons, the water from the mountains flow through the rivers to the sea, bringing potable water to Kuttanad. But during summer, due to the low level of the region, seawater enters Kuttanad and makes the salt content of the water high making it unpotable. During 1968, government of India proposed a project, in which a bundh (Dam) will be made across the river so that seawater will not be allowed to come inside Kuttanad during summer, allowing farmers to cultivate and extra cycle per year. The project was planned in three phases, the south side, the north side and another phase to join the two sections. The project was delayed and by the time the first two phases were complete the entire money alloted for the project ran out and left the final phase in limbo. The farmers who were expecting lots of financial benefits after the completion of the project decided to take matters into their own hands and one night in 1972, a large group of farmers filled the gap between the north and the south side with earth. To this day, the earth embankment between the two sections of the bundh remains.
Eventhough the bundh has improved the quality of life of the farmers, the bundh is alleged to have caused severe environmental problems. The backwaters which were abundant with fish and part of the staple food of the people of the region require a small amount of salt water for their breeding. The bundh has caused deterioration of the catch of fish in the region and the fishermen are opposed to the bundh as of 2005. The bundh has also disrupted the harmony of the sea with the backwaters and has caused problems not forseen before the bundh like the omniprescence of the water weeds. Earlier the salt water tends to cleanse the backwaters but this does not happen any more leading to the pollution of the backwaters and the entire land nearby.
0 Comments: