Expedition NW3 2014 - Day 4 & 5

NTPC Kayakulam, at sunrise.

Day 4 - The trip close to NTPC Kayankulam was a challenge for none of the buoys on the waterways would work. We finally got a fisherman who told us the route north and he requested we tell NWAI to fix the buoys. 

The locks at Thrikannapuzha

It was around 7AM, when we crossed the lock at Thrikannapuzha. These locks prevent salt water from mixing with the fresh water that was artificially created, stretching from Thrikannapuzha to Thaneemukkam in the north. These manmade structures are a matter of big debates on the toll they have on nature and the livelihood of people staying along these waterways. One observation we had was that; salt water back waters were more clean and lively - plenty of birds, fish and other organisms. We pulled into KV Jetty, and were disappointed to learn that the local Kappikada would serve breakfast only by 9AM. This is the same Jetty where the seed for this trip was planted some 5 years back, when one of us met Arjun & Kasim, two rice boatmen of four decades working together and the stories they shared.  We decided to paddle further north after a quick tea to reach another Kappikada, close to Thottapally, old canal gate. 

The shores of Thottapally is one of the few places were the majestic green turtles come to nest and deliver an illegal feast to the locals who look forward to the nesting season. After the lunch at the local Ayyapas hotel, near the north side of the spillway bridge, we joined Mr. Saji Chitralayam, who is fighting a lone battle to save these turtles. He accompanied us at the local school as we build awareness and support from kids to save the turtles of Thottapally. 

We said good bye to Thottapally and headed to our next destination Karumadi, were we had a meeting with neighbourhood groups. "Karumadi Kuttan"; as Lord Gautama Buddha is called is a black monolith statue with its left side missing. After the meeting we headed for the local Kappikada - the best part of the trip was the local food.  The food at the local Kappikada, was plain omelette with piping Dosha in Kerala style. When we returned the crowd had left except for a man and his dog. He came in to narrate the story of the "Walking stone lamp" that got me scared. I wanted to leave Karumadi at the earliest and recalled the scary waterways story his grandfather had narrated as a child. We left Karumadi for Alapuzha at 11PM, wanting to paddle through the night. We were all tired and sleep was catching up fast...

Buddha at Karumadi - Karumadi Kuttan

Day 5 - Around 12, sleep caught up as we pulled into a SNDP Karayogam office at Ambalapuza for a 2 hour nap. We started again at 02:00AM and headed north for Alapuzha when, a fisherman shared about a Kappikada near Pallathuruthy. The news came as a blessing as some of us were "sleep kayaking". Pallathuruthy was disappointing, for no tea stall was open and sleep kayaking was becoming a big issue. Our attentions were pulled towards an old frail lady, who woke up at 430AM by our commotion. She asked what we were looking for and shared that no tea shop is open at this time. Nevertheless she asked us to come and sleep in her little half done Veranda and disappeared to come back with 3 glasses of black tea. What could one say at this gesture? We asked each other, how much would we pay for a glass of tea, that we felt was desperately needed...the answer was 500Rs....we told her about our journey and how we wanted to leave for Alapuzha at 6AM. We went to sleep and at 6, she woke us up with another serving of tea. With great reluctance she accepted the 500Rs. we gave her, took a snap with her and left feeling nice that there are poor people with big heart! 

 

We reached Alapuzha at 7:30AM, but were forced to take the longer route as water hyacinth had taken over the small canal from Pallathuruthy. Thanks to the thousands of house boats, the place is polluted. We pulled up at the local library after taking permission from the local union leader, who sounded suspicious about our promise to leave that evening. After the school session we were joined by Mathrubhumi Yathra photo journalist Mr Murali, who wanted us to pose for some pictures in the canal that had boats of all kinds running all over. 

The Sports Authority of India  - Water Sports centre at Alapuzha

We reached Punnmada Kayal (backwaters) to be accompanied by SAI (Sports Authority of India) students in Canoes and Kayaks of all kind. It was just exhilarating to see the effort put in by SAI and Mathrubhumi for this part of our journey. After accompanying us for a kilometre, we were of our own for the next leg to Muhamma. At Punnamada, we entered the largest freshwater lake in Kerala, Vembanadu Lake. This lake is manmade and hence fresh! The water is really bad for the thousands of house boats that ply the lake and discharging waste. The issue was compounded by industrial scale mussels mining for the Travancore Cement factory near Kottayam.  The mussels are filter feeders who can purify this water. The lack of saline water and industrial scale harvest has left them in a bad state; contributing to the poor quality of water in Vembanadu lake. Thanks to protest by the locals, the dredging for these limestone resources happens north of the Thaneermukkom bund. The Taneermukkom bund at the far north, Thottapally spillway on the west side and the Thrikannapuzha locks, make it fresh! Otherwise, the daily tidal motion should have left it saline except for the monsoon, when the flow rivals the tide.

The Vembanad Lake.

 The sea breeze died down and the horizon touched the lake into one endless canvas as the light got poor. A big cloud started forming above us and we were scared for lightning and thunder. We reminded each other to put our hands on the head, in case lighting strikes. 

Calm waters of the Vemband Lake, after sunset.

It was getting dark and a bright light shone from the banks south of Muhamma indicated the landing point. We were met with another request for photo shoot and then headed to the evening neighbourhood meeting. 

This neighbourhood meeting was the best for the passion participants had. Mos of them lived off the backwaters and were thrilled to have Mr. Dayal, a pioneer in organic agriculture who predicted the ill effects of the Thaneermukkam bund, when it was concieved.

The food was tapioca and mussels curry for dinner. We were lucky for the sit out of a house with fan, were we slept. The place smelled foul for the large number of water birds (cormorants) that roosted in the trees. We were lucky again, this time, it was a sit-out of a home that had a ceiling fan(a jet fan, literally, dried us of fluids!)