Extreme weather events and natural disasters have long been common in Central Travancore. But the years after the mega floods of 2018 have shown a pattern of increasing climatic variability and unpredictability.

After the massive loss to crop during the unseasonal rain in April, the extreme rain that hit the region over the two weeks since July 28 have caused a cumulative loss of over ₹10 crore to the primary sector.

As per official estimates, the showers and the resultant floods caused crop damage in over 62.84 hectres of land across Kottayam. The total value of the losses sustained is estimated to be ₹3.01 crore.

According to the Principal Agriculture Officer Geetha Varghese, the Vaikom region reported damage worth ₹1.04 crore, followed by the Kaduthuruthy region.

Among the farmers in the district, those cultivating plantain suffered the heaviest damage (₹2.21 crore), followed by those cultivating natural rubber (₹22.04 lakh).

Pathanamathitta, on the other hand, suffered damages worth ₹7.55 crore across an area of 196.11 hectares. Of these, plantain farms alone reported damages worth around ₹5.60 crore. The loss to the paddy sector, however, was much limited this time, as the harvesting operations across the region was completed by June itself.

Officials point out that these these figures could be only a part of the actual loss suffered. “While these are just preliminary reports, a detailed survey is on to ascertain the losses in the affected areas including Upper Kuttanad,” said a senior officer with the Agriculture Department, Pathanamthitta.

Meanwhile, water level in Manimala and Meenachil rivers, two major drinking water sources in the region that had flown in full spate only a couple of weeks ago has begun to drop sharply after the floods.

As per estimates with the Hydrology sub division office in Kottayam, water level in the Meenachil river recorded a sharp fall of over six meters in just a couple of weeks while that of the Manimala river, which had touched 59.395 meters at Mundakkayam on August 1, too fell drastically.

The drop in river water levels also appears to have a significant impact on the ground water table in the region.

Source - https://www.thehindu.com