Kuttanad, the rice bowl of Kerala.

Reaching Thotapalli speelway from Alapuzha

Champakullam Church

The love with Kuttanad started as a kid, visiting my grandparents during summer vacations every year. One of my Aunt was married in Kunnankeri and it was the annual trip there, that got me interested in the waterways. In the absence of AC(Alapuzha Changanacherry road), KSWTC was the only option. We would start from Changanacherry boat jetty at 6 and look forward to the trip, that took more than an hour to reach Kunnenkeri.

Houseboat

Kuttanad is a strip that is below sea level! Flanked by the Arabian sea on one side and the plains at the foothills of the western Ghats, on the other. A narrow stretch of land(breakwater), few kilometers in width, works as the natural barrier from the sea.  This entire strip of land, between the sea and the backwaters has sand that is special; called  pancharamanal(sugar sand), in Malayalam. The backwaters that form kuttanad had natural tidal movement, until the Thanneermukkom bund was build north of Chertala, with help of  Dutch aid, in 1977.  Saltwater used to flow inward from the north(opening close to the Cochin harbour) and cover the entire flood plain during summer, in addition to the openings from Kayankulam canal and Thotapally. To support cultivation in kuttanad and to overcome the food famine, post-independence, the bund was built to stop the tidal movement during summer, giving farmers the ability to cultivate twice a year; Earning the title "the rice bowl of Kerala". Today, acreage in Kuttanad has come down drastically as fields are less viable and  conversion for non-agrarian use. The lack of tidal motion has resulted in accumulation of  pollutants aided by thousands of house boats that crisscross them, dumping waste and fouling the water with their engine exhaust. All this has resulted in renewed thinking among a cross-section of people, about the Thaneermukkom bund!

One cannot think about Kuttanad without refering to the concept of backwater paddy cultivation that was pioneered by Shri Murriken, who was the visionary in backwater reclamation and farming. His legacy lives on in the form of the Rani, Chitra and R -Block Kayals, many of which are in ruins. For more details, please refer wikipedia.

Coconut palm

As I kayak today on the backwaters, I am really concerned for the eco-system. Lack of tidal motion during summer results in a lot of stagnant waters in small canals. Compounding the degradation is the un-restricted construction of roads and bridges ; further restricting the flow, waste getting dumped; for want of proper awareness and infrastructure. There was a time, when you went from Muhama to Kumarakom on the KSWTC(Kerala Water Transport Corporation) boats, a section of the journey would be in water that was bottom visible clear. Today, this remains fond memory of a by gone era. Dredging for limestone on an industrial scale also contributed to the dip in water quality,  south of Thaneermukkam bund.

The unspoilt section that I have seen is in and around Pallana river, running parallel from Thotapally speelway to Kayankulam kayal, where the water is still clean. Thanks to the tsunami of 2004, toursim is yet to strangulate this section. In some places you can see the floor; and at night when you shine the torch, you will be amazed by the rubies! Yes;the beautiful eyes of lobsters that shine back at you! Here, the venice of the east is at her best. One hopes these ecosystems are conserved for future generatioin.