KC November 2016

Kerala Calling The saga of Rajendra Singh

Paani Foundation: The Aamir Initiative

` 12/-

2016 November 1

Drought Water Life Water Governance in Kerala N C Narayanan

When in Doubt‌

Look it up‌

This Authentic Handbook is a unique synthesis of knowledge about Kerala. Comprising of more than 1250 topics along with more than 750 illustrative photographs, this handy reference book covers almost all traditional topics like culture, heritage, religion, polity, women, socio-economic condition, briefs on epoch making personalities, languages, art, music, literature, fairs ad festivals, folklore, etc. The book will serve for decades to come as the first point of reference for those interested in any aspect of our State.

` 300/-

Editorial

>>>>>>

State braces for severe drought Namaskaram!

Kerala, the serpentine -lush green southern tip of Indian peninsula, was always blessed with abundance of water. The south west and north east monsoons gave enough and more to the state to flood its plains, rivers, lakes and other water bodies.

It was the proverbial ‘neighbour’s envy’, but not anymore. The phenomenon of monsoon, which was celebrated from the times of ‘The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea’, is slowly waning. The annual monsoon rainfall had registered a shortfall of 34 percent in this land of 44 rivers. An alarming 70% deficit is expected in this year’s North East monsoon as well. Taking into account the seriousness of the situation, government of Kerala have declared all the 14 districts in the state as drought affected.

Acute shortage of drinking water, depletion of irrigational water sources, lowering of water levels in dams and consequential power crisis are looming large over the state.

Revised and Updated

This is the time for concerted efforts from the part of the government as well as citizens to join hands and work in a mission mode to address this existential issue. The ‘Haritha Keralam’ mission announced by the government under the umbrella of ‘Navakerala Mission’, is an effort to rejuvenate the water resources, right from village pond to the long-lasting hope of Malayalam psyche, the Nila. When the government is coming out in a mission mode to tackle this multidimensional issue, as a society we also need to develop sensitiveness to conserve even a drop of water. Its in this context, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has made an earnest appeal for people’s participation in water conservation activities. As we all know, though Kerala receives twice the national average of rainfall, we are unable to capitalize on this natural advantage as the bulk of the rainwater flows into the sea within 48 to 72 hours of rainfall. It is here that rainwater harvesting or recharging ground water gains huge significance.

Rain water harvesting and regulated use of water could be our first step towards tackling the water woes. We also need to clean up our water resources and pledge not to pollute them again.

At ‘Kerala Calling’, we are bringing out a special issue on this looming catastrophe. It’s a pointer to the crisis dimension as well as a compendium of best practices and plausible options for crisis mitigation.

Looking forward for your valuable feedback,

Available at District Information Offices/ State Information Centre, Thiruvananthapuram

Truely, Dr K Ampady IIS Editor in Chief

Kerala Calling

November 2016 Volume 37 | Number 1

Editor-in-Chief Dr K Ampady IIS | | DEPUTY Editor - in- Chief Ajitha Das Editor K P Saritha | Assistant Editor C Rajesh | DESIGNer V S Prakash Design & Layout R Ratheesh Kumar rash8590070404@gmail.com | Printing Orange Press, Thiruvananthapuram

Save

It would be wise on our part to prioritise the usage of water. Drinking water, domestic use, pet animals, wild animals, agriculture, industries; this priority order should be followed at least till May 2017.

water

it will save

you later

6

Fight drought, Conserve water Pinarayi Vijayan

8 Respect Water, Reduce Drought Risks…

Dr. Sekhar L Kuriakose

26 Drought Hits Agriculture R Heli

10 Worsening drought Dr. Dinesan V P

28 Let's get our act together Sridhar Radhakrishnan

16 Human Vs. Climate Change Dr. Ajayakrishnan K

30 Palakkad: Epicentre of Drought Akshay Dev

20 Water Governance in Kerala: Changes and Challenges N C Narayanan 22

32 Early Signs of Drought in Wayanad V V Sivan

Jalanidhi: The success story of peoples initiative

34 Longing for rain Malavika M Nair 36 Sasthamcotta Lake Gasping Andrew Pereira

P R Suresh Kumar

This is what exactly happened to Rajendra Singh, who is referred to as “Johadwala Baba”, “Paaniwala Baba” and “India’s Waterman” by the people of Rajasthan.

44

The bond of water The saga of Rajendra Singh Sunny Sebastian

46

48 Editorial Materials

Waterman speaks Excerpts of the interview

Paani Foundation: The Aamir Initiative Irfan Shaikh

Articles/features appearing in this magazine are either commissioned or assigned.

Nevertheless, other articles are also welcome. A maximum of 750 wordage is appreciated.

Such items should be addressed to The Editor Kerala Calling, First Floor, Secretariat Annexe, Thiruvananthapuram. PIN 695 001

Responses may be sent to Mail:

keralacalling@gmail.com

Focus > > > > > >

Cover Photo Bijulal

Views

expressed in the articles published in Kerala Calling are not, necessarily, those of the Government. Kerala Calling welcomes free expression of divergent views and exchange of ideas through its pages.

Dignitaries lighting lamps at the Diamond Jubilee Celeberations of Kerala State at Thiruvananthapuram 38 Cry of a river and vanishing pugmarks Sini K Thomas 42 Catch where it falls Shree Padre

56

50 Count the Drops Conserve the water wherever possible Dr. V Subhash Chandra Bose 52 Watershed treatment for all-round development Satheesh R

Kerala expects two monsoon one is South West Monsoon during June – September and North - East Monsoon during October to December every year.

This year, the south west monsoon was down in the state by 34 % of the expected, which caused reduced inflow of water to the reservoirs by about 42 % than expected.

KSEB to Tide over Power Crisis

J Mohammed Siyad

Enquiries Editorial: 0471-2518648 Subscription: 0471-2517036

To subscribe send

Rs. 120 as money order to The Director, Information & Public Relations Department First floor, Secretariat Annexe, Thiruvananthapuram, PIN 695 001.

The subscription amount also received at the State Information Centre, Press Club Building, Thiruvananthapuram. Ph: 2518471 and at all District Information Offices

Total no. of pages 56 + Covers

> Pinarayi Vijayan Chief Minister

O

ur state is at the threshold of a severe drought. The south west monsoon has recorded a deficit of 34 per cent rainfall.

Even though 90 to 100 per cent rainfall is expected during north east monsoon, it is unlikely to compensate the deficit recorded in south west monsoon.

Such a scenario would result in severe drought.

Rural Employment Guarantee scheme will be utilised for constructing check dams, rain water harvesting pits, cleaning of ponds and canals. Bedsides, local bodies should also engage with National Service Scheme (NSS), National Cadet Corps (NCC), Indian Scouts and Guides, Nehru Yuva Kendra and other voluntary organisation for carrying out such activities. The rain water harvesting systems in government buildings are being revived, and made functional and effective. The concerned departments have been asked to provide the necessary funds for this purpose.

Therefore, under the existing circumstances there is a need for implementing effective drought control measures. However, such measures would be effective and successful only if these steps are combined with emphasis For power generation in the summer on creating awareness among the people season, KSEB has been instructed on water conservation. to use sources other than the water The local bodies have been entrusted stored in our dams. Initiatives of the with the task of initiating extensive government alone would not be sufficient drought prevention measures. Funds of to fight drought. The public also has a

6

Fight

Conserve >

Kerala Calling

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

>

key role to play in water conservation activities.

Utmost attention should be paid to prevent wastage and misuse of water. Efforts should be taken to reuse and recycle water and such activities should be given prominence. The waste water from kitchen can be used effectively for watering plants.

It would be wise on our part to prioritise the usage of water. Drinking water, domestic use, pet animals, wild animals, agriculture, industries; this priority order should be followed at least till May 2017.

Using drinking water for cleaning vehicles should be strictly avoided.

Not a drop of north east monsoon should be wasted. Every effort should be taken to ensure that each drop goes into the ground, which can be done by digging rain water harvesting pits .We should also plough lands well to facilitate seepage of water , which in turn would raise the

ground water table and also increase water level in wells.

During the summer, rate of evaporation would increase due to the increased heat. In order to prevent this coconut, husk and leaves should be spread on the surface to maintain the moisture, content in the ground.

As we are already aware, scarcity of potable water has become a major concern in some parts of the world. Ours is a State that is blessed with copious rainfall, rivers, canals, backwaters and ponds. Let us preserve this treasure trove for posterity .It would be prudent on our part to minimise wastage, promote recycling and voluntarily engage in water conservation initiatives.l

7

It would be wise on our part to prioritise the usage of water. Drinking water, domestic use, pet animals, wild animals, agriculture, industries; this priority order should be followed at least till May 2017.

drought,

water keralacalling@gmail.com

November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

Respect Water,

Reduce Drought Risks…

Dr. Sekhar L Kuriakose

D

rought is Kerala is monitored by the State Emergency Operations Centre which is inter alia State Drought Monitoring Cell of Kerala State Disaster Management Authority.

The SEOC has prepared a drought susceptibility map in accordance with the guidelines in the National Disaster Management Guidelines for Drought using the following parameters, weighted and rated heuristically with the following parameters and their standard thresholds:

8

• L o n g p e r i o d ra i nfa l l d e r i ve d Standardised Precipitation Index • Available supplementary irrigation sources (presence/asbsence of perennial water sources delineated from 1:50,000 topographic sheet) in villages • Anomaly of (0.4 or less) composite Normalised Difference Vegetation Index from historic NDVI data from

>

Kerala Calling

MODIS Terra/Aqua (in simple terms, a measure of the green vigour of vegetation) • Ground water departure from long period mean for monitoring stations, interpolated The parameters used for monitoring the emergence of drought like conditions in Kerala primarily are: • Rainfall and other associated weather parameters • Crop (vegetation) health (based on satellite derived NDVI and field reports • Ground water (variation in ground water table) and surface water resources •

Reports of request for drinking water received at district collectorates

• Reports of crop loss due to wilting reported by Agriculture Department • Reports of human-animal conflicts reported by main stream media

In the year 2016, the summer rainfall was significant and the rainfall received during South-West Monsoon (although 34% lower than expected) was wide spread. Hence, vegetation has not started showing significant wilting.

However, low rainfall has started showing its effects in the reservoir storage and ground water table.

Drought declaration Drought is declared by the State Relief Commissioner based on the situation assessment report from State Drought Monitoring Cell or based on the specific reports about sub-district level situation by District Collectors and the recommendation of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority. As per the Manual for Drought Management issued by Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, drought has to ideally be declared in the month of October after careful evaluation of the parameters used for monitoring drought.

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

> On 28-10-2016, Chief Minister chaired the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority and decided to declare the entire state as drought affected and appealed to the public to be hand in hand with the Government in fighting drought situation. The Government has come up with a detailed 26 point contingency plan for fighting drought.

Important points are :•

State shall follow a 3R approach towards water, it being Reduce, Reuse and Recycle water

•

Preference of water usage in the state till May 2017 or until the situation improves .

•

Priority should be given to villages without perennial water sources while implementing drought risk reduction activities are undertaken

•

District Collector shall convene a meeting to ensure adequate drinking water to all drought prone regions in the district.

•

•

Fresh potable water shall not be used for washing motor vehicles, especially water supplied through public water supply system. Public may be urged to recycle water, for example water used in kitchen may be used for watering garden plants Water supply through tanker lorries to houses shall be restricted to only those areas that are in dyer

need and where ever there are no water kiosks.

•

All sources of drinking water supply shall be guarded by Police, LSGD and public to ensure that pollutants are not dumped into them causing further water stress.

•

District Collectors shall explore the possibility of utilizing the funds from the MGNREGS to create minor check dams using local and institute materials.

Sources from where water is collected for drinking water supply should be certified by KWA and/or the Food Safety Authority

•

Agriculture Department shall also attempt to convince farmers to reduce ground water intake for irrigation as the preference should be for drinking water and then agriculture.

•

Farmers may create as many rain water harvesting pits as possible and till-up the land and spread dried leaves over it to ensure that rain water from the North-East monsoon penetrates rapidly into the ground and transpiration from soil is minimized.

•

All dysfunctional rain water harvesting structures in the premises owned by government departments and institutions shall be repaired and made functional

within a month. Funds necessary for the purpose shall be provided by the respective administrative department to the concerned departments/institutions.

•

District Education Officer shall be directed by the District Collector to convene a special assembly in all schools for sensitizing children regarding drought risk reduction and sun-burn/sun-stroke which are common during drought.

Geography and Environmental S c i e n c e t e a c h e rs s h a l l b e directed to prepare the necessary guidelines for sensitizing school children.

•

Forest Department shall ensure that drinking water is available to animals in forest areas such that possibility of human-animal conflict can be reduced.

•

District Collectors shall, based on this guidelines directly monitor the implementation of drought risk reduction activities in the districts.

9

With a vision 'Towards a Safer State', the entire state must be ready to face the crisis looming over us. In the long run, for a water secure future of the state we must join hands in rewriting the 3Rs - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle as 4Rs - Respect, Reduce, Recycle and Reuse. l The writer is Member Secretary, KSDMA

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

Worsening drought Dr. Dinesan V P

10

Photo: Bijulal

K >

Kerala Calling

erala, located in the humid tropics, is known for green landscape, evergreen forests, serene water bodies, rolling mountains and narrow valleys.

With high rainfall, chains of backwater bodies, many rivers, reservoirs, lakes, ponds, springs and wells, the State is considered by many as the land of water. For the last three decades, Kerala is frequently facing droughts and acute water scarcity. Drought is mainly manifested by the shrinking

and drying up of rivers, ponds, lakes and the lowering of water table, and it adversely affects drinking water availability, agriculture production and power generation in the State. The gravity of the drought situation in Kerala is difficult to be understood because of the perennial greenery in the State.

While the seasonal crops are damaged by drought, the perennial crops sustain because of their physiological and morphological adaptations. Salient findings on the investigation of rainfall

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

> characteristics and its influence on droughts in Kerala .

Unique Characteristics of Kerala Influencing the Water Resource Potential Rain dependent water resources: Kerala’s water resources are fully dependent on rainfall. Whereas, in addition to rainfall, the rivers in most of the northern State are also recharged through snow melt from Mount Everest. Kerala State located in the humid tropics, receives an annual average rainfall of about 3062 mm, which is about 2.5 times more than that of national average. The occurrence and distribution of rainfall in Kerala shows high temporal variations .

South west monsoon (June to September) and North east monsoon (October to December) are the two monsoon seasons of the State of which South west monsoon is more predominant.

About 86% of the annual rainfall is received during the monsoon period between June and December (70% during South west and 16% during the North east monsoon) and the remaining 14% during the non-monsoon period between January and May as summer showers.

11

The occurrence and distribution of rainfall in the State also shows high spatial variations. The Western Ghat region of Wayanad district receives rainfall higher than the State average (about 3588 mm) whereas, it is 2329 mm only in Palakkad district. The regions like Attappady in Palakkad district receive rainfall less than 1000mm.

Rivers of Smaller Catchments: All the drainage channels more than 15 kms are named as rivers in Kerala; hence the State has 44 rivers. As per the national norms, Kerala does not have any single major river (drainage areas more than 20,000 sq.km). Kerala has

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

> the rainfall received in short duration is drained to the sea very fast (within 48 hours), not much to retain on the ground surface. Hence, about 90% of the river discharge is confined to monsoon season between June to December and the remaining 10% during the nonmonsoon period.

12

only four medium rivers (drainage areas between 2,000 and 20,000 sq.km) namely; Chaliyar, Bharathapuzha, Periyar and Pamba with a total drainage area of 16,742 sq.km. The remaining 40 rivers are minor (drainage area less than 2,000 sqkm) with a total catchment area 19,489 sq.km. The total discharge of all 44 rivers is 77,900 MCM. (A single river like Godavari in Andhra Pradesh has a catchment area of 3,12,812 sq.km with a discharge of 10,50,000 MCM). Hence, the number 44 is irrational, arbitrary and misleading.

Though, the utilizable surface water potential of the State is about 42,678 MCM, we are conserving about 8,000 MCM only (about 20%) through the

Deforestation: Almost all the Kerala rivers originates from Western Ghats.

The Western Ghats has a long history of deforestation for several purpose that took place in several phases over the last two centuries; massive deforestation of the rich climax evergreen forests for cash crops of coffee followed by tea and cardamom starting from present irrigation and hydel reservoirs the early nineteenth century. Later, for the use in the non-monsoon season. deforestation of midland hillock forests With nearly 90 percent of the total for cultivation, submergence and cutting geographical area of the State underlain down of forests for dams and State by massive hard rocks, the ground water induced deforestation for raising forest development prospects are very limited. plantations. The forest cover about The dynamic groundwater potential 50% of the total geographical area of of Kerala is about 6,072 MCM (CGWB, the State in 1901 has been reduced to 29% in 2012. Heavy deforestation 2011). have left their trail of impact affecting Since the prime source of all our the river flow, river ecology, water table water sources is rainfall, the deficit in and water quality across the length occurrence of rainfall badly and breadth of the rivers. A affect the utilizable water CWRDM study on forest potential of the State. hydrology showed that Steep topography: The prime forests considerably Due to the steep help in conserving source of all our topography, a wat e r, t h e re by water sources is rainfall, major portion of facilitating

Photo: Bijulal

the deficit in occurrence of rainfall badly affect the utilizable water potential of the State.

>

Kerala Calling

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

>

Possibilities of Severe Drought in 2016-17 The south-west monsoon which contributes about 2040mm (70%) of the annual rainfall in Kerala, during the hydrologic year 2016-17 it contributed only 1352 mm (34% deficit). A normal northeast monsoon (480.7mm) and summer rains (404.3mm) may not sufficient to make up the shortage that had already happened (687.4mm) in southwest monsoon. It can be seen that all districts have received below normal southwest monsoon. All districts except Ernakulum have experienced the deficit in south-west monsoon between 25 and 50%. The deficit in south-west monsoon in Wayanad district is 59%. Due to the unique characteristics of Kerala (as mentioned above) and large deficit in south monsoon rainfall may experience a severe drought situation in districts like Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram and Wayanad. Among these, except Thiruvananthapuram and Pathanamthitta districts, the summer showers during the hydrologic year 2015-16 was much below normal. The drought situation will be much worse when a high deficit southwest monsoon is followed by a high deficit summer rainfall.

It has been already reported that the storage level of many of the hydel and irrigation reservoirs of the State reached below 50% of the storage capacity. Normally these reservoirs has to fill at least 80% storage capacity during the end of southwest monsoon. Large reduction in river discharge and lowering of the groundwater levels in many

extended summer flows, increased groundwater level and soil moisture content and reduced sediment transport in streams. The stream flows in dense forest catchments were found to be perennial, while in the partially exploited catchments the flows stopped in February and in fully exploited ones in December.

One hectare forest cover is capable of conserving rainwater and recharges the groundwater system at the rate of 50,000 liter/year. Large deforestation has resulted in high reduction of natural water conservation.

Distribution of Southwest monsoon in Various Districts

District

Southwest Monsoon, mm Deviation, % Received Normal

Alappuzha 1134.7 1745.9 -35 Kannur

1991.0 2669.0 -25

Ernakulam

1569.4

Idukki

1569.5 2276.2 -31

Kasargod

2252.9

3007.5

-25

950.8

1332.3

-29

Kollam

2065..0

-24

Kottayam 1330.7 1897.3 -30 Kozhikode 1887.4 2603.1 -27 Malappuram 1251.2 2060.4

-39

Palakkad 1034.9 1572.7 -34 PTA TVPM Thrissur

1095.4 1715.7 -36 572.4 0871.3 -34 1219.6 2197.5 -44

Wayanad 1073.8 2632.1 -59 regions are also reported. Hence, there is an urgent need for the proper conservation of the north-east monsoon and summer showers and scientific water management strategies to reduce the severity of the drought situation in Kerala.

13

monsoon. Many tanks and ponds have been reclaimed for various purposes.

The reclamation of tanks and ponds also reduce the groundwater potential of the region as well as increase the flash floods during monsoon.

of wetlands. Lateritic hillocks located in the midland region of the State have been mined for building materials. The hillocks in the river catchments act as a groundwater reservoir, which stores water during the monsoon periods and Sand mining: The rivers in Kerala have release it to the downstream water been utilized largely for sand mining bodies. The mining of hillocks has reduced and seriously hammers the river eco- the natural water conservation system. system. Sand mining is being permitted Urbanization: The urbanization in Kerala by the Grama Panchayats. But, more is taking place in a faster rate. Currently, is unauthourisly mined from various about 20% of the land area is covered by locations in the river course. The sand buildings, roads, etc. The scope for natural mining resulted in lowering of the river groundwater recharge is reduced in the beds in many locations, reduced the urban area. Urbanization results in flash water holding capacity of the river bed, floods during monsoon, declining of water bank erosion, lowering of groundwater level and drying up of household wells. table and drying up of wells in the nearby Water Quality Deterioration: The area. Sand mining adversely affects disposal of liquid and solid wastes from the diversity of life forms thriving in urban areas/ townships/municipalities the riverine eco system also. In the along the river banks, the ingress of downstream areas the sand mining has chemical pesticides and fertilizers lowered the riverbed even below sea applied in the agriculture area, saline level and altered the river flow and water ingress due to reduction in river flow quality. downstream are the problems that

Reclamation of Wetlands and Paddy fields: A large area of wetlands has been reclaimed for the last five decades for various purposes. About 7.9 lakh hectares of paddy fields that existed in 1960 have been reduced to 2.0 lakh hectares in 2012 (about 75% reductions).

One hectare paddy field is capable of conserving water and recharging the groundwater system at the rate of 5 lakh litre/year. The reclamation of wetlands and paddy fields not only decrease Mining of hillocks: Several hillocks in pollute the fresh water sources and the natural water conservation but the State have been/are being mined for reduce the fresh water availability in the also increase the flash floods during various purposes including reclamation State. It is reported that the salinity in keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

> reduced the per capita water availability by about one fifth.

Drought Drought is considered as a major natural hazard/ disaster, affecting several sectors of the economy and the environment worldwide.

Drought has been defined in a number of ways.

‘Meteorological drought’ is mainly a prolonged deficit of precipitation, ‘hydrologic drought’ is related to below-normal stream flow, lake and ground¬water levels; and Agricultural drought’ relates to moisture deficits in the topmost one metre or so of soil (the root zone) that impacts crops’. These differences emphasize the relative roles of pre¬cipitation, evapotranspiration (ET) and runoff in drought caused by climatic factors. It has been observed that droughts have dramatically increased in number and intensity over the last three decades and affecting more people in Kerala than any other natural hazard for long periods of time.

Impacts of Climate Change Climate change is the change in the statistical distribution of weather pattern which lasts for an extended period of time (decades to millions of years). Though there are different schools of thought regarding the contribution of different driving forces like greenhouse gases, cosmic rays, etc, everybody recognize it as one of the most serious challenges facing humankind today. Temperature drives the hydrological cycle, influencing hydrological processes in a direct or indirect way. There would be changes in the variability of climate, and changes in the frequency and intensity of some extreme climatic phenomenon.

Photos: Bijulal

14

rivers is extended upto 15 to 28km.The water quality data revealed that more than 80 percentages of the surface and groundwater sources are affected by bacteriological contaminations. Salt water intrusion has affected many water supply projects.

Population growth: The fresh water availability of Kerala remains more or less constant. The population growth, urbanization, growth in agriculture and industrialization increased the water demand day by day; thereby decreasing the per capita availability of fresh water resources with time. The population 0.64 million in Kerala in 1901 has increased to 3.36 million in 2001. The per capita water (rain) availability 49,609 litre in 1901 is decreased to 9450 in 2001. Five times population increase in 100 years

>

Kerala Calling

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

>

Drought Mitigation Measures Short term strategies

Long term strategies

• Minimize the wastage of fresh water by plugging the leakage in the existing water supply distribution system.

• Delineation and prioritization of drought prone areas, and preparation and implementation of action plans to mitigate the problems.

• Regulate the supply of fresh water to water based industries and impose heavy water rates for industrial/commercial purposes.

• Desiltation of reservoirs to enhance the storage capacity

• Regulate the over exploitation of surface and groundwater.

• Implementation of river storages by constructing regulators.

• Rationing the water supply system during critical periods.

• Provide tanker lorry water supply to all water scarcity areas.

• Desiltation and protection of all tanks and ponds.

• Implementation of check dams and sub surface dams across rivers/streams.

• Creation of mass awareness for the wise and efficient use of water; control the wastage of fresh water, adaption of micro irrigation techniques, rainwater harvesting, recycle and re-use of waste water, etc.

• Promotion of water saving irrigation techniques like drip and sprinkler irrigation, and precision farming techniques • Continuous monitoring of water quality for assuring quality of domestic water.

• Rooftop rainwater harvesting from all private commercial and residential buildings, government buildings, schools, and other public buildings, especially in water scarcity areas / locations. .

• Implementation of open well recharge programs, particularly in over-exploited, critical and semicritical revenue blocks.

Higher rates of evapo-transpiration results in high moisture content in the atmosphere leading to locationspecific increase or decrease in the total amount of precipitation and its frequency and intensity, which in turn affects the incidence of droughts, flash floods etc. Significant number of recent studies reported statistical evidences of changing tendency of monsoon rainfall.

The statistical analysis of long term rainfall data of Vythiri station at Wayanad shows a decreasing trend in southwest monsoon, annual rainfall and rainy days

• Implementation of mini/ medium reservoirs without affecting the environment.

• Implementation of permanent regulators/barrages in the lower reaches of rivers to prevent salinity propagation in rivers.

• Link up irrigation and hydel reservoirs with urban and rural water supply schemes.

• Improve the irrigation efficiency of the Irrigation projects by attending periodic repair and maintenance of the head works/ conveyance system.

• Conservation and protection of rivers, lakes, tanks and ponds; and wetlands.

• Promotion of the cultivation of drought-tolerant, modification of cropping pattern in water scarce areas.

• Take up massive insitu soil and water conservation measures through contour bunds, contour trenches, rain pits, well recharge, gully plugs, check dams, and follow other watershed management principles.

• Promotion of afforestation.

• Treatment of solid wastes in suitable areas and households

15

• Wastewater treatment in suitable areas • Restrict sand mining from river beds. Promotion of mining of sands/sediments from reservoirs.

• Formulation of State River Board/ Authority for the coordination of planning, development and management of all water resources projects in river basins for the sustainable utilization of the water resources.

hydrologic year 1981-82 and 2015-16 has been investigated. The occurrence of rainfall in the State shows large variations in its annual and seasonal distributions. The occurrence of rainfall is termed as normal if its deviation is between plus or minus 19 percentage of the normal rainfall. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), a moderate drought situation will be expected during the summer seasons if the deficit in southwest monsoon is between 25 and 50%. If the deficit is greater than 50%, then the prediction will be a severe drought.

characteristics of the State, resulting water shortage/ scarcity even during the normal monsoon years. The situation will be more severe when there will be high deficit in monsoon rainfall.

Since, the water demand for various purposes is increasing day by day due to high population growth, urbanization, agricultural and industrial growth; there is a need to harness the maximum utilizable water resource potential of the State through scientific water management without affecting the environment system. Since, the per capita water availability is decreasing due to the Monsoon Deficit and population growth, mass awareness Harnessing the water resource potential should be created among the public for Droughts in Kerala of the State has not been taken place the wise and efficient use of water.l The distribution and the pattern of rainfall due to the unique topographical, The writer is Senior Principal Scientist, CWRDM, in Kerala during the period between the hydrological, land use, and demographical Kunnamangalam keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

T

Kerala is in the empyrean peaks in the UNDP’s ranking of states in Human Development Index for Indian States (Planning Commission, 2002, Council for Social Development, 2008). In per capita consumption, Kerala stands at the top though it ranks only fifth in per capita NSDP. Kerala has a specialist in identifying a fragile and closed eco-system, which has not been succumbed to drastic climatic variations even after the noticeable mismanagement in anthropogenic practices. As we undertake a SWOT analysis on the above mentioned facts and figures by segregating the Strengths (S), that can be projected, and Weaknesses (W), that can be shelved for a while. There are both Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) for Kerala’s sustainable development.

>

Kerala Calling

Human . s V Climate Change Photo: Bijulal

16

he one and only geographical region which has been indicated from the beginning days of geographical expedition movements enunciated by Ferdinand Magellan, and even now at the midst of this advanced geoinformatics, is none other than our Gods own Country, Kerala. The place where the international resource mapping were focused to assess the commercial viability of foreign trade, and the place where the equilibrium weather conditions were subjected to many international climatological research arena ,and the place where the demographic configurations were well addressed and discussed about its merits are also nowhere else but our own Kerala. These may be a few among the reasons, which have invoked the United Nations to demarcate this area among the most significant places in the tourism realm that the place should be visited by everybody once in their lifetime. It is a paradox that this same geographical region is now under the hot discussion pertaining to the drastic interventions of climate change dynamics. This actually gives some electrifying spark in our cognitive sensory organs to indulge in this enigma to churn out the truth that lays dormant in the hot spots.

Whether to Combat or Capitulate Dr. Ajayakrishnan K

Climatic Threats • From the meteorological studies conducted by IMD indicates that the annual mean surface air temperature is projected to rise by 1.8°C to 2.5°C in 2030s • On analysis of the precipitation index clarifies that Kerala showed decreasing trend in monsoon rainfall for the period 1990-2012 • It was observed in the analysis conducted by various agencies in the R & D sector of climate change studies that after 1999, rainfall was below long term average rainfall (except in 2006) • On compilation of the Rainfall data of IMD stations of the State of Kerala for the period from 1961 to 2011(60 years) revealed a declining trend in annual and southwest monsoon rainfall during the past 60 years • The rainfall patterns are drastically shifting so that the strong and torrential rain fall may experience in the post monsoon seasons with most unpredictable nature.

• Various sectors in the State such as food security, agriculture, health and www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling

November 2016

>

Physiological Weakness State has the third highest population density in India. Acute food insecurity and import of food grains.

Land hunger in the state for housing and lively hood leads to encroachment of forests and low-lying wetlands.

Due to heavy unemployment, the slogan of industrial development at any cost gets support, for the employers using polluting technologies from the workers as also the unemployed.

Unregulated backwater tourism (houseboats) and ‘eco’ tourism in the ecologically fragile lands.

Pro-environment lobbies are too weak, localized and fragmented.

A major weakness of these movements is the lack of scientific and technical knowhow.

17

The existing low industrial base allows for a strategy of future industrialization of the state using less energy intensive and low GHG emission technologies.

marine resources are experiencing considerable negative impacts with respect to the unpredictable nature of the physical variables due to climate change.

• Many times there experienced heavy damage to the indigenous crops at the time of harvesting due to the chaotic behaviors of climatic factors, which drastically affect the economic growth of the state. It is estimated that farmers could not harvest paddy worth about Rs. 128 Cr due to unexpected flooding in the Kuttanad fields in the year 2009, extending to 2000 hectares which is quite unusual with the normal

summer rain.

• A n o m a l i e s i n t h e a m b i e n t temperature cause drastic destructive impacts on the thermo sensitive crops such as Pepper, Cardamom and other spices. The difference between maximum and minimum temperatures is likely to increase and rainfall is likely to decline which profoundly making deterioration in the natural quality and these products may sometimes fail to enter in the international markets due to the disqualification while quality checking.

• Heavy pre-monsoon showers make radical changes in the feeding

habits of several insects. Unusual and a lethal attack by wasps like insects may hit pepper production in Kerala, the main producer of the commodity in India.

• While considering the master food grain of Kerala, the Paddy, which is coarsely subjected to significant low production because of the prolonged wet spell in summer crop.

Atypical rains in the year 2008 had devastated the paddy production to a large extent in Kuttanad region.

• Devastating droughts are also playing vital roles in the decline of the paddy production along with the plantation crops. Records illustrate

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

Photo: Bijulal

The potential impacts of global climate change in coastal Kerala are salinity intrusion into aquifers and increase in salinity of wetlands.

that almost all the plantation crops suffered to a large extent in 1983 and 2004 owing to disastrous summer droughts. A clear shift was noticed from food grain crops (Paddy) to non-food grain crops in Kerala over a period of time (1960-2015).

18

• Though Kerala stood first in cashew production a decade ago, at present it occupies only fourth position and likely to go down further. Based on the analysis conducted by Dr. Rao and others identified the major reason for this mishap is due to the frequent occurrence of weather aberrations during the reproductive phase of cashew.

• It should be noted that an approximate of 2,500 farmers in Muthalamada Grama Panchayat in Palakkad district are employed in mango farming on an acreage of 4,000 hectares. The annual production is 35,000 tones of high quality mangoes such as Alphonso, Malgova, Sindhooram, Kalapadi, Banganapilly, etc. But due to the unpredictable variations in the climatic conditions, the famers had experienced significant loss in the mango productions along with the radical decline in the quality of the mangoes. This has resulted in deterioration in the livelihood pattern of the farmers in this region.

Kanthalloor in Idukky district, the only winter fruit-growing centre of Kerala, bordering Tamil Nadu, is experiencing unprecedented weather changes.

• The oil sardines, were known for their

>

Kerala Calling

stipulated distribution in Malabar coast (Kerala) along the southwest coast of India where the annual average sea surface temperature ranges from 27 to 29 Degree Celsius.

Another notable feature is the extension of oil sardine distribution to the east coast of India as well.

Until the mid-1980s, the oil sardine did not form fisheries along the southeast coast. In the 1990s, oil sardine emerged as a major fishery along the southeast coast • Globally, sea level is anticipated to rise prolong over the next several decades. During 2000 to 2020 the rate of thermal expansion is extrapolated to be 1.3 ± 0.7mm/year.

In the absence of the availability of regional projections, for the 2030s, global projections can be used as a first approximation of sea-level rise along the Indian coasts in the next few decades.

• Global sea-level change results mainly from two processes, mostly related to recent climate change, that alter the volume of water in the global ocean through a) thermal expansion and b) the exchange of water between oceans and other reservoirs (glaciers and ice caps, ice sheets, other land water reservoirs, including through anthropogenic change in land hydrology and the atmosphere).The mean sea level rise trends in Kochi based on 54 years of available data, is 1.75mm per year. Estimation of inundation

of coastal areas owing to sea level rise was made for one location (Kochi) along the west coast of India. The anticipated results show that the inundation area will be about 170 km2 of the coastal region surrounding Kochi for a 1.0 m rise in sea level • Since Kochi region covered the backwaters, many inland areas far from the coast, but adjacent to the tidal creeks, backwaters and lakes will be inundated. This causes substantial amplification in the total area of inundation. The potential impacts of global climate change in coastal Kerala are salinity intrusion into aquifers and increase in salinity of wetlands. Studies indicate that fall in rainfall and sea level rise, along with other factors have resulted in salinity intrusion affecting ground water resources in the coastal districts of the state. It has also been observed that over exploitation of ground water in certain stretches of Kerala coast has contributed to the entry of salinity into the coastal aquifers from the sea. though this propensity is mostly observed during the summer months, when recharge is partially zero, there is a possibility for aggravation of the problem due to increase in withdrawal rate to cater to the requirements of dense coastal population.

• Sunstroke\Heat stroke has been reported from many places like Palakkad and Punalur in Kerala in www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling

November 2016

>

• Also witnessed the significant effect of Sunstroke in a form of hyperthermia, an abnormally elevated body temperature with a c c o m p a n y i n g p h ys i c a l a n d neurological symptoms, resulting from prolonged exposure to high temperature in many parts of Kerala.

It is literally a burn on the human skin due to the presence of Ultra Violet radiation and other high frequency Electro Magnetic radiations.

The consequence of this burn is inflammation of the reddening of skin with some blisters. Skin damage and loss may take place. • Some notable studies conducted by the WHO in the year 2008 pertaining to the communicable and transmitting diseases observed that Malaria is a climate-sensitive disease and its transmission dynamics are greatly affected by climatic conditions. The progress of the parasite takes place in a mosquito .Being a cold-blooded creature, the mosquito is sensitive to climatic conditions such as temperature, rainfall, relative humidity and wind velocity. There is evidence of increasing malaria prevalence throughout India. Due to change in climate, it becomes conducive for mosquitoes to spread to new areas and affect people.

The window period (the interval that elapses between infection or inoculation with a pathogen and the onset of symptoms or of detestability of infection by laboratory testing) of disease transmission through mosquitoes would increase due to climate change.

Opportunities to explore On the blanket anomalies of these Threats still there are lot of islands of Opportunities that can lead us towards a problem solving methodologies effectively and efficiently. There are many sector specific initiatives to study the climate change and the impact of sea level rise on the coastal environment of Kerala. However, there is no attempt to assimilate and integrate the climate change contextual information that is useful to the planners and decision makers of the State. Also it may be noted that these data are not at all accessible to common men who are experiencing these drastic

action plans to combat the climate change scenario. The Department of Environment and Climate Change, Government of Kerala is taking substantial initiative in coordinating the adaptation dynamics to combat for climate change. The formulation of State Action plan on Climate change is gathering momentum by the configuration of Climate Change Cell to enhance the pace of integration of the activities in the sectoral frames along with incorporation nodal officers from various departments.

C l i m at e C h a n g e i s a u n i ve rs a l

19 Photo: Bijulal

March 2010 and repeatedly in 2016.

In this year we have witnessed the death of 3 persons due to the Heat stroke. The temperatures across all districts in Kerala have risen to an unprecedented high as it experienced intensive temperature rise up to 42 degrees in Palakkad district. Due to the heat wave impact, 10 people from the northern districts of Palakkad, Kannur and Thrissur suffered severe burn injuries and were hospitalized for emergency first aid care.

climate change phenomenon. There is lack of explicit information on the coastal ecosystems and isolated and special ecosystems upon which to base the local adaptation decisions. It is imperative to develop an integrated climate change contextual database and information system in spatial domain for Kerala to understand the interrelationship between the elements of ecosystems, the changes that are likely happen to them and their physical, social and economic impacts.

It also ideal to emphasize the need of developing a comprehensive action plan on climate change incorporating the various adaptation and mitigation measures based on priority wise a s s e s s m e n t . Va r i o u s s e c t o ra l departments have to be integrated to formulate comprehensive and holistic

phenomenon that cannot be tackled with monotonous of arms and ammunitions but should gather ample strategies and more sophisticated and pragmatic procedures on a comprehensive and holistic way. Physical interventions of nature cannot be combated with anthropogenic strength but the system which the possible havocs may affect can be strengthened using the so called adaptation techniques. As the Le Chatlier’s principle says that, the system will adjust itself for the changes if it is not disturbed by any external agencies. The only thing we can utilize as a tool for combating the climate change is to explore more climate resilient strategies and develop more resistant and constructive mechanisms to adapt with the drastic and persisting changes. l

The author is Environmental Scientist Department of Environment & Climate Change, Government of Kerala

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

N

atural vagaries of nature like droughts and floods make us reflective of the way we use nature. However these are passing whims before we slip into our age old ways of thoughtless abuse of resources. The copious rainfall that Kerala receives does not translate into a high potential usable water resource is a well-known fact. The state’s undulating terrain, deforested highlands, sand-mined rivers and

converted wetlands will together ensure flash floods in monsoon preceded by long spells of water scarcity. Coming to individual sub sectors within water, we are still chasing the ‘irrigation potential’ to be achieved despite the fact that our command areas have been converted to land uses that seldom need the amount of water demanded by rice.

There should be a serious assessment of the realistic demand of irrigation water in the state and divert the financial

allocations to more needed minor irrigation and conservation works like watershed management to ensure the growing challenges of water scarcity and environmental change. There is a similar need to assess the ground water potential and devise a strategy for not only ‘prospecting’ but conserving the depleting aquifers by building subsurface dykes and multiple ways of recharging the existing wells and roof top harvesting in urban areas.

Water Governance

in Kerala Changes and Challenges N C Narayanan

Photo: Bijulal

20

>

Kerala Calling

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

> We are still a dominantly well-using society and in sanitation one that has progressed from open defecation much before the discussions on ‘swachbharath’ at the national level began. One of the biggest threats to public health is the coexistence of wells, sceptic tanks and soak pits. The linkage between the two in a densely populated state like ours is understated and could be a danger that we are not fully aware of. This applies to the pollution of water bodies which has

taken mammoth proportions as in the case of industrial pollution in Periyar.

However, we are not aware of the more disseminated variety of pollution that each one of us is contributing since more than 80% of water that we use becomes waste water! In urban areas it is difficult even to delineate a natural water stream, sewer, storm water drain and wastewater channel often all of these becoming a “big one”. Safe disposal of wastes from sceptic tanks and where it reaches is still a mystery

Coming to governance, the foremostissue is the institutional fragmentation in taking decisions on the above issues like surface water (irrigation), ground water, drinking water and pollution control.

with only the big cities partially covered by underground sewage .Pollution not only is an issue of public health, but diminishes our share of usable water making water treatment for use costly.

Coming to governance, the foremostissue is the institutional fragmentation in taking decisions on the above issues like surface water (irrigation), ground water, drinking water and pollution control. It needs concerted efforts of taking appropriate policy decisions, implementing and monitoring them which come in the domain of governance and serious thought has to go into the idea of integration suggested in the Kerala Water Policy 2008. The core of the change will be to reverse the idea of supply enhancement to more demand Continued to Page 55

21

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

The success story of peoples initiative P R Suresh Kumar

22

T

he management of rural drinking water supply was remained a challenge to the government and other agencies for a long period of time. The rural drinking water sector was being focussed on centralised and supply oriented approach to this subject. In major number of cases a source was identified and distribution pipelines were installed through the main roads of Grama Panchayats and street taps were put here and there and water was supplied as and when there is availability. In most of the rural drinking water schemes there was neither any timetable for supply of water nor the beneficiaries have any say in the system.

In case of street taps many of them became example for misuse and wasting of drinking water within a very short period of time. Hence

>

Kerala Calling

t h e re we re t h o u g ht s t o change the existing supply oriented centralised system to a decentralised and demand oriented system having the active participation of all stake holders.

During the late nineties two evaluation missions from the World Bank had visited Kerala and conducted a very detailed study about the prevailing system of drinking water supply and sanitation issues in rural Kerala. They have submitted a detailed Project Report and expressed their interest in funding an innovative Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Scheme in Kerala. The cost of the World Bank project was 80 Million US Dollars with World Bank’s contribution amounting to 60 Million USD. The contribution from state Government, Grama Panchayats and beneficiaries were also incorporated in cost sharing of the proposed

project. Government examined the subject in detail and vide GO(MS) No.56/99/ Ird. Dated 31.08.1999 have accorded sanction for the implementation of the integrated Rural Water supply Scheme in the districts of T h r i s s u r, M a l a p p u ra m , Palakkad and Kozhikode with World Bank assistance. The above scheme was conceived on the following three basic principles. l

Adoption of a demand driven approach to service deliveryand use of the participatory process.

l

Shifting the role of the state Government from direct service delivery to one of planning, policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation and partial financial support and

l

Pa r t i a l re c o v e r y a n d full operation and maintenance cost recovery

The above project was later named as Jalanidhi Phase I Pro j e ct a n d a S p e c i a l Pu r p o s e Ve h i c l e n a m e d Kerala Rural Water supply and Sanitation Agency (KRWSA) a registered autonomous societywith headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram was formed to implement the Jalanidhi Project. More than the quantity of the fund flowed under this project the consequential institutional strengthening, empowerment of beneficiary committees and local Grama Panchayats provided great opportunity for the demand centric and cost effective delivery of services in the rural water supply sector. Moreover this project was conceived with the convergence of other water related activiti e s including sanitation, drainage, Ground Water Recharge and environmental and water shed management schemes.

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

>

23 A three-tier project management set up was envisaged under KRWSA for running the Jalanidhi Phase I project. As per the suggestion of the World Bank a state level Project Management Unit (PMU) was started functioning in Thiruvananthapuram and District Project Management Units in the district headquarters. Specialists and experts from community development as well as technical sector were engaged in the PMU and DPMUs to help the implementation process.

At the grass root level Village Level Water and Sanitation Committees were formed to whom the funding was routed through the concerned Grama Panchayats. These village level committees comprised of the beneficiaries have the ultimate responsibility for the final implementation of the schemes under the project.

with paramount status under the Jalanidhi Project. Unlike a supply driven a p p r o a c h hitherto followed, t hi s p ro j e ct i s implemented based on the need of the people expressed through their willingness to pay and to participate in project planning implementation and post commissioning operations. This inculcates a sense of ownership in the people. The Grama Panchayats under the project are selected after the detailed study about the present system of drinking water supply prevailing there, coverage of Kerala Water Authority The beneficiaries are assigned (KWA) schemes etc. Prime keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

> 10.56 lakh populations. In addition to water supply schemes other components like ground water recharge activities, latrines, environmental sanitation measures, Rain Water Harvesting etc. were also undertaken and successfully completed under the project.

Phase-1 project achievements are summarized below.

Jalanidhi-II is a sequel to the Jalanidhi-I and is intended for implementing during 2012-18. The World Bank approved a credit amount of US $155.3 million for implementing the project for a total estimate of Rs. 1,022.30 Cr. Project agreements were signed on 12th February, 2012 and it is effective from 17.04.2012.It is targeted to complete the entire project by 31.12.2018. The project aims to cover about 18 lakh rural people for water supply & sanitation services. The project aims to cover 200 Grama Panchayats of Kerala.

This includes about 4000 small water supply schemes including rehabilitation of single GP KWA schemes and five multi GP large schemes.

E n v i ro n m e nt S a n i t at i o n schemes such as Solid / liquid waste managementCommunity biogas (1,500 Nos.), HH level compost units (18,000 Nos), drainage (136 Nos), HH level biogas ( 2,700 Nos), plastic recycling & shredding units (30 Nos), piloting latrine solution for water logged areas (15 Nos), piloting regional septage (1 No), Pay and use toilet (100 Nos) are also targeted under the project. Apart from the drinking water supply s c h e m e s G ro u n d Wat e r Recharge measures like check dams, point recharge

The project aims to cover about 18 lakh rural people for water supply & sanitation services.

24

importance is given for the inadequacy of drinking water supply and necessity thereon.

The Gram Panchayats have a pivotal role in implementing community based water supply projects under Jalanidhi.

KRWSA has also established a wide network of NGOs in mobilizing communities towards implementing the participatory, community driven water supply & sanitation facilities owned and managed by them.

responsive and decentralized service delivery approach to almost the whole state from the initial four districts done on a pilot basis in 2005.

set u p under KRWSA.

KRWSA was the nodal Agency of the State Government for the implementation of Rain Water Harvesting Programme in the State. For this the Rain Centre, a separate cell for monitoring the activities, was

Jalanidhi phase-1 was implemented during the period 2000-2008. Total number of 3,694 small water supply schemes and 16 large water supply schemes were commissioned benefiting

Over the last sixteen years since its inception, KRWSA, which was constituted as a special purpose vehicle t o i m p l e m e nt J a l a n i d h i , a Rs.381.5 Cr., World Bank aided rural water supply and sanitation project, has acquired unique expertise in establishing rural water supply and sanitation schemes based on the cardinal concepts of sector-reforms, namely, d e m a n d re s p o n s i ve n e s s , community ownership and sustainability of investments through cost recovery.With the lessons learned from the initial phase, KRWSA has expanded this demand

>

Kerala Calling

Project achievements

Items Achievement

No. of small Water Supply Scheme Commissioned/proposed 3,694/2,500 No. of large water supply scheme Commissioned /proposed No. of Households Covered through commissioned schemes Total population covered through commissioned schemes

16/6 1.92 lakhs 10.56 lakhs

Total No. of new latrines constructed

68,023

Total No. of latrines conversion from single pit to two pit

24,194

Total Environment Management Units (Compost, soak pit etc)

89,319

Drainage Constructed in Meters

68,362

No. of BGs where GWR done No. of Rain water Harvest units constructed

1,013 13,304

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

> well, percolation tank etc are Project Performance (Physical) - Jalanidhi also undertaken. Moreover

Item description Unit Target Taken up Completed integrated Water Security

by the overall up to Plan is prepared in respect of

project 30.09.2016 all Jalanidhi Panchayats.

No. of project GPs Nos 200 115 10 To ensure ownership of the No. of Beneficiary Groups Nos 4,513 3,761 1529 project, 10% of the capital c o st s a re b o r n e by t h e Households covered lakhs 2.87 2.59 0.84 beneficiary community. Of Population covered- WSS lakhs 13.76 11.65 3.71 the remaining, the Grama Population covered- Sanitation lakhs 3.7 3.21 2.71 Pa n c h ayat b e a rs 1 5 % Total number of schemes Nos 3,928 2,176 1232 and 75% by the Govt. The Users meet 100% of the recurring costs of operations and maintenance. The users themselves are fully involved in all the activities right from identifying their sources, deciding on the technology to be utilised, c o m m u n i t y c o n t ra c t i n g and implementation till the operations and maintenance aspects of the schemes. All contracting of goods, works and services are done at the user level itself for which adequate training in terms of World Bank procurement procedure is provided and guidelines made available to communities.Capacity building and equipping the community to operate the project is a major thrust area of this project as this is planned,

No.of TDP GPs to be covered No. of persons trained

Nos

22

19

0

lakhs

6.02

5.91

5.91

Individual latrine constructed as part of ODF programme

Nos

-

31542

22670

GWR structures constructed

Nos

-

4127

1365

d e s i g n e d , i m p l e m e nt e d , owned and operated by the users themselves. This will not only ensure the involvement of the people but will also chart a new path to community-based responses for meeting local needs.

Pro-active JIMS (Jalanidhi Information Management S yst e m ) s of t wa re b a s e d progress updating & monitoring m a d e m a n d at o r y i n t h e project.KRWSA’s (Jalanidhi) project management

software “JIMS” has been awarded the best project in e-Governance category at the Digital India Knowledge Exchange Summit organized b y E l e t s Te c h n o m e d i a i n a s s o c i at i o n w i t h t h e Electronics & Information Technology Department, Government of Kerala at Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram on 19-20 February 2016.

years period in achieving the various time bound physical and financial targets. KRWSA has taken up the challenge of ODF campaign successfully in the 115 Jalanidhi Grama Panchayats including the remote tribal Panchayats in Idukki and Wayanadu. As part of this the construction of more than 30000 toilets were completed within a record The Jalanidhi Phase II Project time of 45 days. has made commendable T h e s e a l l a c h i eve m e nt s progress during the last two have been made with the unabridged co-operation of the people who formed part and parcel of the project.

The beneficiaries, people’s representatives in the local self-government institutions and the Support Organizations (NGOs) are the major partners of the success. This model of scheme implementation under JALANIDHI has demonstrated successfully an equitable, inclusive and decentralized delivery system mainly benefiting the SC and ST (16%) and BPL category (52%) of rural households in Kerala. In short the Jalanidhi Project is a paradigm for the successfulendeavourin fi g ht i n g t h e s c a rc i t y of drinking water and drought withpeople’s co-operation and participation.l

25

The writer is Deputy Director (Project Finance), Jalanidhi Project keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

R Heli

26

>

E

vergreen environment is really a great blessing and a pious gift by the nature. All are dreaded of drought and climatic changes that make the livery existence of the precious environment impossible. Some studies reveal that since 1900 more than 11 million people have been died as a consequence of drought and more than 2 billion have been affected by other physical hazards. This has made the drought the most unwelcome among the climate change developments. But they do occur in several parts of the world inflicting heavy losses to human, animals and vegetative population. FAO along with several International and regional Institutes are trying to monitor the drought situation so that global assistance, to preserve the greenery from total distruerian Gigantic programmes like “The great green wall� in Africa are undertaken now. The aim of the programme is to contain drought, desertification, land

Kerala Calling

degradation, climate change industries associated with the and loss of bio diversity. same will come to a standstill A m o n g t h e e c o n o m i c in a severe drought affected enterprises which suffer a region making life impossible. grave eclipse due to drought is farming. Crop production, animal and bird farming, gardening and all avocations,

The biggest blessing is that we are familiar with drought of small, medium and large in size since our country is vast

with several agro climatic zones. The monsoon, winter and summer seasons have provided our farmers enough opportunities to give shape to several farming methods to tide over the onslought of the ill effect of various types

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

> of droughts. Vast experience a c q u i re d w h i l e h a n d l i n g drought, deluge, soil erosion etc. have helped the farming communities to give shape to different farming techniques to resist and reduce the loss.

India though vulnerable to drought and the farming prosperity is quite often depend on the generous of monsoon have done well i n h a n d l i n g t h e d ro u g ht situations and our track records prone that agriculture has made significant progress.

At the time of Independence India was an importer of food grains and begging for subsidized food aids. From that level, India attained self sufficiency in food grain production and recently passed the Food Security Act, surprising the whole world.

The latest report from the global grain market Indicates the emergence of India as the largest supplier of rice in the international markets for trade.

remarkable during the post independence period which should be made sustainable at any cost.

monsoon is almost sure to effect Mundakan and Punja which are supposed to be the high grain yielding seasons.

The impact of climate change on global cereal harvests are really frightening according to a study featured in ‘Nature’, Production of different cereal crops in -177, countries was subjected to detailed studies.

In North America , Europe and Australia droughts and heat waves have both caused an average reduction in cereal harvest by about 20%. They a l s o fo u n d t h e ave ra g e reduction of cereal harvest also increasing during the recent years.

The cash crops in general are the worst sufferers due to the drought. Crop surveyors in the pepper trade indicate the prospects of pepper will be below normal. The rate commencement of North-East monsoon may result in erratic flowering of the Cashew and Mangos.

In this context kerala blessed with two monsoons is also facing the threat of a drought.

Whether man report that the state has received a steep fall in the quantum of rain during the June-September period.

34% shortage has already started its advice effects in farming and in drinking water sectors. The second crop of paddy really is facing a crisis.

The poor South West monsoon has brought in a dry spell making the land preparation a non starter.

In the mean time India has also snatched, the coveted p o s i t i o n a s t h e l a rg e st producer of milk in t h e wo r l d . I n d i a n a c c o m p l i s h m e n t The usual frightful lightening i n t h e f a r m i n g and thunders experienced sector are really with the commencement of the North East monsoon are yet to start. The delay to commence north-East

It may adversely affect the cardamom yield too. Inshort the drought has already paved way for poor cash crop season to the farmers.

Since all the cash crops for which Kerala is famous are perennials the loss of plants and trees due to drought will be a serious blow to the economy of the state.

in the duck farming sector, creating huge loss to the farming communities.

More uncomfortable losses are in the waiting if the drought continues in the Animal husbandry sector which may make the food sector more vulnerable to cost escalation and quality degradation.

Drought is not a welcome visitor nowhere in the farm world. It brings only huge losses and irrecoverable calamities coupled with economic destabilization.

We have to protect the farming sector by providing all facilities for growth to the farming communities. Needs of the Bio industries are on the increase. A sound and massive integrated approach is the need of the hour. It is absolutely essential for internal farming security but also for building up a good import trade. Agriculture and farmer welfare should be under one umbrella both by the central and state governments. This is perhaps the most opportune time to give shape to an exclusive farm budget which will give us more strength to face natural hazards and guarantee the food and farm security along with farmer welfare. l

The rejuvenation and replanting process of these perennial crops, are time consuming and costly. Usually the compensations made available are too meager and insufficient to take up speedy rejuvenation. Cash crop farming sector deserve speedy packages for its fast and scientific revival. The animal and bird Sector also we have a very bad period with the drought spreading.

The writer is the former Director, ‘The Bird flu’ has already made Dept of Agriculture , Government its appearance in Kuttanad of Kerala

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

27

>

>

28 Sridhar Radhakrishnan

T

Photo: Bijulal

here is no use beating around the bush, so lets come to the point straight. Drought in a water blessed state like Kerala, is not a situation, nor is it a calamity, its a Shame.

>

This year we have had deficit rains, the IMD Director says it is 34% less from the South-West Monsoon, and if the North-East also fails us, we would have a “drought-like” situation. Infact, the Kerala Assembly even discussed this, and declared Kerala as drought hit. But what does this deficit mean in actual numbers – 1352.3 mm of rain instead of the predicted 2039.7 mm. Now, Kerala with an annual average rainfall of 3107 mm actually has a mind-boggling quantity of water pouring down on it as rain. That is estimated to be 7030 crore cubic metre (7030,00,00,000 cubic metre), which is actually on an average more than 20 lakh litre per head per year. On an average each person need about 100 litres per day, and that would mean just 36,500 litres per

Kerala Calling

capita per year. This actually comes to less that 2% of the available rain water.

Put in simple terms, we only need to trap and store about 2% of the total rain poured down on us every year for direct human household use. The rest goes for all the other purposes, the natural world, industrial, agriculture, power, institutional and other sociocultural-environmental needs, as well as future storage. And this year we are still probably getting 70% of the total rains and yet we have a drought like condition.

shame.

Traditionally, all the water storage and conservation structures, some natural, some pre-historic, some evolved over time, and some man-made – from the grasslands of our western ghats, the shola forests, the rocky granite as well as the laterite mountains and hills, the mid-land hills, lakes, ponds, rivers, paddy and wetlands, backwaters, and at the micro-level man made structures of wells, and local systems such as surangas, kokkarnis etc, all of them A study on the incidence of droughts served its purpose of trapping water, so showed that during the period 1871– bountifully fed to us by the monsoons.

2000, Kerala experienced 66 drought What have we done with it? Today, years, out of which, twelve were thanks to the rush to develop our state, moderate and twelve were severe to upgrade our luxuries to standards as droughts. This means drought, simply in Gulf or in the West, or even the hyped understood as a shortfall of rains, and up Gujarath ! we have systematically hence shortage of water availability, done away with these structures. And has been here for a very very long time. this we have done it at the State level, Yet, we have not yet learnt to manage at the LSG level and even at household and cope with it, neither as households, level !! communities or collectively as a state.

So, in the time of this years drought, lets This is why, the situation is a matter of www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling

November 2016

>

Let's get

our act together “talk” about two debates in the State – the years 1955-56 was 7.68 lakh ha the protection of the Western Ghats, which increased to 8.74 lakh ha in and the protection of paddy/wetlands. 1970-71 thanks to intensive efforts Today, a state, whose very survival from Government to bring more fallow depends on the Western Ghats, wetlands into cultivation. Since then, fought and rejected, suicidedly so, its the State got caught into a blind lifeline, the Dr Madhav Gadgil chaired “developmental” complex, and paddy Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel lands faced the biggest onslaught.

(WGEEP) report. Simply because a few While, the genuine needs of the farmers political leaders from all parties, a few for a house, whose only source of land community leaders from some religious was paddy land was justifiable, what outfits, campaigned against it, even Kerala saw was an unprecedented going to the extent of violent reactions. destruction of its paddy and wetlands, If we had the common sense to let mostly for non-agricultural and this panel report be implemented, the commercial purposes, resulting in more biggest benificiaries would have been than 75% of it being destroyed. In 2008, Kerala's environment, its water bodies the then State Government recognising and the farmers and people living in the need to protect food and water these ecologically sensitive areas. And security, promulgated the Kerala Paddy better still, there was immense potential and Wetland Conservation Act. But in actually getting paid, in terms of the ensuing 8 years saw systematic ecological services cost, to conserve attempts to sabotage the Act. Today, this as a community landscape. Thanks the State is trying its best to bring the to very narrow minded leaderships, we unpardonably pending Data Bank, that missed that bus. Now, we, especially is critical to the protection of the lands. those living in the sensitive bounds of Still, as a people, we are not convinced the Western Ghats, would forever be about the need to protect paddy and forced to live in droughts, landslides, wetland. Every day, hundreds of acres floods, man-animal conflicts, seasonal of such lands face destruction. Here, crop losses, and unremunerative, even the genuine needs of those who unsustainable livelihood options. Unless dont have land to build a house is also otherwise, we learn from the mistake, subversed, in the rush by the land and and decide collectively, that the WGEEP construction groups to violate all laws to report is actually a lifeline for the State. build on and destroy the most effective So, for a sustainable, drought-free state, water conservation bodies of the State. we need to revive the WGEEP report and If we were to really want to cope with see how sensibly and sensitively we can the ever increasing threat of drought – we better decide to conserve our implement it. paddy lands, bring all that was filled and Kerala's paddy and wetlands during reclaimed back to its natural form, and

compensate the farmers with a good package that will incentivise them to protect this for posterity.

The debate around protection of the Western Ghats, and the Paddy and Wetlands in no way speaks about a so called environmentally conscious society. The debate is simply a reflection of our mental attitudes, to “develop” at any cost, and collapse. The present Kerala mindset is one that seems to have lost its memories of its rich homesteads, vast terrains of green fields, forests, water filled landscapes and are walking into a future that is mostly about airports, seaports, hospitals, roads, malls, parking, lots, diseases and morbidity management!

29

And in such a situation, what can we do but only “talk” about the drought, in meetings, seminars, channels, and even in the State Assembly, and that too only when it actually draws into us.

This has become a habit. During the rain, we forget the water, we forget the earth and its structures that need to store the water, and when the drought comes, we lament the scarcity of it. Atleast this year, lets learn, and invest on policies and activities that a State must take up to ensure drought-proofing for the years to come. Lets hope that the Haritha Keralam efforts of the State Government would address this. And in such an effort, the protection of the Western Ghats and the Paddy/Wetlands should play a critical role. l The writer is Programme Director, Thanal.

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

Photo: Krishnankutty

>

30

Palakkad Epicentre of Drought Akshay Dev

P

alakkad district is heading for one of the worst droughts with the level in most of the dams, the water of which irrigate thousands of hectares of paddy fields at a record low vis a vis that of previous year during the same period.

Though Palakkad district accounted for 39 % of the paddy production in the State, followed by Alapuzha district 29 %, Thrissur district 15 % and Kottayam 12 per cent as per the procurement figures of Supplyco for the first and second crop in 201516, the output could reduce considerably this time.

between June and September this year, there was a deficit of 34 % rainfall both in the State and in Palakkad district. The North East monsoon which is from October to December has recorded a deficit of 73 % till date. The current water level in the Malampuzha dam could be released for the second crop only for 26 days due to the deficit in the South West monsoon.

Except for the Mangalam and Kanhirapuzha dams the water level in almost all major dams was precariously low. This was disclosed by officials at the meet of the advisory committee for the Irrigation schemes .

irrigate only 8,000 hectares of area. On the other hand, atleast 22,000 hectares of land was being irrigated from the Malampuzha dam for the second crop annually.

Currently, the seed beds were being prepared for the saplings to be transplanted.

Once the saplings are ready, it was decided that the committee will meet again in the middle of November to finalise the date of release of water from the Malampuzha dam.

Malampuzha dam: The storage capacity of the Malampuzha dam was 226 million cubic metre while it currently had only 93.59 This water will be able to million cubic metres of water.

The gravity of the situation is evident from the fact that

>

Kerala Calling

Atleast 40 million cubic metre needs to be set aside for drinking water puposes. Only the remaining 50 million cubic metre can be utilized for irrigation purposes. The dam also supplies drinking water to the Palakkad Municipality and six adjoining panchayats.

Mangalam dam: The water from the Mangalam dam will be released for irrigation purposes from October 31.

Pothundy dam: The water will be released for irrigation from the Pothundy dam from November 25. The storage capacity of the dam was 50.914 million cubic feet.

However, there was only 24.126 million cubic metres of water. It will be able to

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling

November 2016

>

Malampuzha Dam in Palakkad were water has receded considerably.

release water for 39 days. However, only 48 % of land will be able to be irrigated fully.

T h e s i t u at i o n is no different in the Walayar, Meenkara and Chulliyar dams were only water to be released for one day is left.

31

Hundreds of drinking water schemes in Ottappalam, Shoranur, Pattambi and Velliankallu were dependant on the Bharathapuzha.

The district has received 1,008.5 millimetres of rain in Development place of the expected 1,499.9 Committee will meet with the mms which speaks for itself. office bearers of the various M.B. Rajesh , MP has said that padashekhara samithis in the the district administration first week of November itself. should go ahead to utilize Parambikulam - Aliyar Pact the MNREGS workers to (PAP) river water sharing clean water bodies and make agreement: As per the inter available water. state PAP agreement, Tamil Meanwhile, the meeting of Nadu has to release 7.25 tmc the Vila nirnaya samithi ( crop of water annually to Kerala selection committee) has through the Manakadavu weir advised farmers to use short to the Chitturpuzha. However, gestation paddy seeds. It was Tamil Nadu does not release decided that the Agriculture its due share of water and has

violated the pact 15 times the Sholayar reservoir for the since 1971.

Chalakudy basin. This has also Currently due to the late been violated. arrival of the North East monsoon, Tamil Nadu was saying that there was only .5 (point five) tmc of water in the Aliyar dam and it was unable to release water to the Chitturpuzha. However, since the Parambikulam dam had around 6 tmc of water , Tamil Nadu should divert it to the Aliyar dam and channel the due share to Kerala which is not being done.

M o re ove r, a s p e r t h e agreement, every February 1 and September 1, Tamil Nadu has to maintain a full reservoir level (FRL) of 2663 feet in

This year Tamil Nadu has released only 1.02 tmc of water into the Chitturpuzha which has affected paddy crops in 45,000 hectares.

Moreover, only if water is released from the Aliyar dam to the Chitturpuzha will it flow into the Bharathapuzha.

Hundreds of drinking water schemes in Ottappalam, S h o ra n u r, Pat t a m b i a n d Velliankallu were dependant on the Bharathapuzha. Thus, all hopes rest on the North East monsoon and if it is also weak, both farmers and people will go with parched throats. l

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

Early Signs of Droug V V Sivan

W

ayanad district in Kerala remarkable for its lush green nature and salubrious climate shares characteristics of both Western Ghats and Deccan plateau. The average annual rain fall in Wayanad is 2322 mm and in areas lies in the southern tip like Lakkidi, Vythiri and Mepadi it vary between 3000-4000 mm.

32

>

For the past few years Wayanad experiences a significant change in the rain fall pattern and weather conditions.

A senior person who born and brought up in Wayanad and experienced more than 70 years of weather conditions in Wayanad says that the cool climate, which was characteristic of Wayanad paddy would be has changed a lot. According to him the nearly impossible. average temperature was 15Ëš C but now In Wayanad 20% of it has gone up to 26Ëš C. the total cultivable There is a general feeling that Wayanad area is occupied by is heading towards a drought. There are irrigated crops. Lives ample signs to support this view. How of people, animals harsh it would be a matter of concern. and crops in the high Current year the district experienced a altitude hill slopes massive reduction of 59% rain fall during m ay g et af f e ct e d the south west monsoon. The northeast severely. Milk and other monsoon season normally starts from crop productivity would be the mid of October. There is no strong adversely affected. Prolonged sign of arrival of the monsoon even at drought period would definitely affect the end of October. The cool season, the the vegetation cover in the district. so called winter has started peeped in.

Early senescence of trees has been It means the southwest monsoon was a observed in many parts of Wayanad. failure and the northeast monsoon failed Trees like rosewood, which is a deep totally or it vanished for this year. If the rooted tree growing at high rain fall northeast monsoon also fails and there is area like Vythiri started shedding its no periodical summer showers as a result leaves, a natural phenomenon, which of any of the natural phenomenon like is normally observed during the month cyclones, depressions or low pressure of December. We do not know whether etc. the after effect can be beyond any the leaf shedding is advanced by a few prediction. The immediate implications months or significant change in climate would be depletion of water table and has started. Fissures started to appear drying of water bodies. Cultivation of so early not only on irrigated lands but on crops that requires irrigation, particularly Kerala Calling

non irrigated lands also.

During this period so many live streams and rivulets used to make silver lines on the mountain slopes but many of them were not visible this year even at the peak of monsoon. Water level of wells and ponds has gone down and streams and rivers became lean.

Incidents of mass death of earthworm at many parts of Wayanad have been reported. Experts in this area say that it is because of soil moisture depletion and excess soil heat. The current assumption of experts is that during night when the www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling

November 2016

>

ught in Wayanad Tree felling from private lands has been manifested to the maximum during last year owing to the fear that people would not be permitted to cut trees once the Kasthoorirangan recommendations is implemented in the district. Anybody can cut any tree irrespective of its age and size in the name of ‘planting a tree’ programme and people took it as a chance to harvest age old trees for mere monitory benefit. Extensive sand mining and quarrying caused further ecological damages. 90% of paddy fields that was functioned as mini reservoirs have been converted for cultivation of crops like banana. Invasion and fast spreading alien species are adding agony to the already degraded forest ecosystems.

Nowadays none of them are able to do so beyond 8 am due to sudden rise in temperature. People used to be sunk under blanket at night sleep without any cover and very often uses electric fan.

temperature falls in to 15˚ C or below and the surface soil slightly wet with due drops earthworms come out of the relatively hot interior soil in search of moisture and die off as the sudden rise in temperature during day time. The real reason needs to be identified with more scientific interventions. Occurrence of local migration of Indian koel and peafowl from nearby hotter areas are signs of weather change in Wayanad.

It was a common sight where people in Wayanad, particularly old persons basking in sunlight till 10 am in the morning.

In addition to the climate change effect due to global warming, several other local specific reasons are attributed to the early dryness in the district. Shortage of rain fall during the southwest monsoon, degradation of forest and other vegetation cover, dwindling of paddy cultivation, conversion of wetlands for various purposes etc. are some major ones. The natural vegetation that was responsible for the salubrious climate in Wayanad has been degraded or destroyed. The bamboo belt that protected the district by blocking the hot air blowing from Deccan plateau has been perished completely after masting.

33

Every drop of water, which is the basis for the existence of all life, need to be saved by constructing check dams and adopting proper management plan.

We should be able to harvest every rain drops in rain pits, ponds, in small reservoirs and through other water conservation measures; conserve soil moisture through mulching etc. At any cost we should not cut or allowed to cut any trees remaining on private or public land. All sorts of activities that destruct the habitat should be avoided.

The former district collector had a vision about preserving and enhancing the environmental health of Wayanad. The ‘Ormamaram’ programme that he has initiated during the Environment Day 2016 was a brave movement towards it. Unfortunately with his transfer from the district, all activities related to ormamaram have been stagnated.

Immediate mitigation measures if not adopted it may be difficult to thrive the dry spell. l The writer is Senior Scientist, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Wayanad

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

Longing for

34

Malavika M Nair

A

sharp decline in rainfall during the Southwest as well as Northwest monsoon has put the farming community in the hill district Wayanad, a major coffee and spices growing region in the country, in a fix.

monsoon. The normal rainfall during the mm during the same period last year, Dr. period is 127.7 mm.

Rajendran added.

The rain fall data of the Regional Agriculture Research Station (RARS) of the Kerala Agriculture University, Ambalavayal also projects a bleak future to the community, if the North West According to the rainfall data available monsoon not favours to them. with the Meteorological Centre, According to the data at RARS, the Thiruvananthapuram, Wayanad comes Ambalavayal region has received 960 first in the state among the areas hit by mm rainfall since1 June, as against 1,517 shortage in rainfall. Though the normal mm received during the corresponding rainfall during Southwest monsoon period last year. (from June 1 to September 30) in the The normal annual rainfall received by district is 2,632.1 mm, the district the district a year was above 2,000 experienced a rainfall of 1,073.8 mm mm, Professor P. Rajendran, Associate rainfall during the period, a deficit of 59 Director of Research, RARS said. The per cent, the data says. Whereas the station recorded a total rainfall of 1,250 district recorded a rainfall of 48.4 mm mm, including the summer showers, during the first 19 days of South east since January 1, 2016, as against 1,850

>

Kerala Calling

Usually 30 percent of the rain is contributed by the North East monsoon but, it was yet to be set in, he said . The monsoon played a crucial role in the production of the cash crops such as pepper, coffee, tea, cardamom, plantain, ginger and tuber crops, he pointed out.

The production of pepper may dip in to 50 percent owing to the sharp decline of rainfall during its pollination period as well as back up showers , farming sources said.

The flowering as well as the pollination of a pepper vine usually takes place during the Southwest monsoon but in many parts of the district, especially major pepper-growing areas such as Pulpally, Mullankolly, and Poothadi grama www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling

November 2016

>

rain

35

panchayats, the flowering was very low owing to the dearth of timely rain. In those areas that had a scanty summer rain, the pepper spikes emerged but fell before pollination due to the prolonged drought-like situation, K. Vijayakumar, a farmer at Eriyappalli near Pulpally, said.

The coffee industry sources said that the coffee production would decline up to 20 to 30 percent owing to the dearth of summer rain as well as backup showers. The blossom shower and back up showers are the major factors determining the coffee production, The sudden transitions in nature has Prasanth Rajesh, secretary, Wayanad increases the various afflictions to the Coffee Growers ‘Association says. crops like pepper and ginger, especially As many of the farmers holding below the quick wilt in pepper wines and rotten one hector, modern irrigation systems diseases to the ginger, Bhaskaran such as drip and sprinkler irrigations are Chettiar ,a farmer at Meenangadi points far away from their reach and a small out. change in climate would adversely affect Many a farmer could not apply the their family budget, he adds . fertilizer to the ginger crop on time, especially the farmers who had planted ginger on high lands, and the time delay in fertilizer application adversely affected the production, sources added.

According to the data of the coffee Board the coffee cultivation has spread over 84,931 hectors in the state, including 67,366 hectors in Wayanad district. Last year I got 7 ton of coffee beans from

my seven acres of land but this year it might be declined to 4 ton owing to the erratic monsoon, K. P. Mathai, a coffee farmer at Meenangadi said. The fate of other farmers in the panchayat is not different, he adds.

It was reported that close to 30 percent of paddy fields kept fallow as the farmers could not transplant paddy plants on time owing to the dearth of monsoon.

Whereas, the farmers who had cultivated paddy also in a fix as they experienced a drought like situation for the past two months. The drought like situation put the dairy farmers also in a fix as many a farmer shifted to dairy farming as a major source of income owing to the falling price of cash crops and various diseases affected the crop. The district is at the second position in producing milk in the state. l

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

> Andrew Pereira

P

iped water supply of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) to Kollam city and five grama panchayats getting restricted to alternate days in October itself portends not only the alarming water scarcity situation staring at Kollam during the coming summer months but also the sinking condition of the freshwater Sasthamcotta Lake, from where the KWA sources the water.

made the lake designated a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention of 1971 established by the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO).

mining from the peripheral areas of the lake a few kilometres away. The mining activity had also snapped the aquifers at many locations. Many of the aquifers are now feeding the huge gaping pits created by the sand mining activity.

By virtue of that the lake also became Some of these pits are reported to be enabled for special status to get over 200 meters deep. conserved and protected. But the The lake is surrounded by thirty-eight ground truth is that the Sasthamcotta hills on three sides and paddy fields Lake with an original area of 3.74 square on the eastern side. To prevent water kilo meters as per official records has from spilling into the fields, an earthen alarmingly shrunk and continues to bund has been constructed. Almost shrink. At some of the locations, the lake all the hills surrounding the lake have has shrunk by close to 400 meters. The human habitations. Though now some lake today is much smaller than what restrictions are in force, for many years it was in November 2002 when it was the lake was seen as a convenient declared a Ramsar Site. dump yard for the waste and trash of The monsoon rains and the springs Sasthamcotta and surrounding areas.

The weak June-August southwest monsoon and uncertainty over whether the October-November northeast monsoon (Thulavarsham) will pour sufficiently to compensate the southwest monsoon deficit is not only making things look all the more bleak for Sasthamcotta Lake but even more worse for the drinking water prospects fed by aquifers linked to the Kallada of Kollam.

River are the natural sources that In November 2002 the Sasthamcotta replenish the lake. But both are weak Lake entered the prestigious list of . The aquifers turned weak mainly due 26 wetlands in the country declared to human interventions in the form of as Ramsar Sites. A place in that list indiscriminate and unauthorised sand

These destructive human interventions continued to get ignored till it reached a stage where it became too late to make constructive interventions that can produce the desired results to keep the lake healthy. The paradox, when it

36

Sasthamcotta Lake

Gasping >

Kerala Calling

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

capacity to hold 22.39 billion litres of water. Under normal conditions in the past about 37.5 million litres of water used to be drawn per day for piped water supply. That has now been toned down to less than 20 million litres per day.

comes to conserving and protecting the lake, is that there is no dearth of support from environmentalist groups and no shortage of schemes.

Though protection and conservations schemes with ample fund allocations are announced from time to time, the lake continues to be in dire straits. The biggest allocation in this connection came in June 2013 when the State

Photos: Suresh Kumar

>

Of late during the summer months as the lake shrinks, the exposed bed of the lake turns into a lush grassland which is being utilised by farmers for grazing their cattle. Environmentalists feel that the grassland poses a threat to the ecology of the lake. During the government rains the grass which gets covered by allocated Rs. 24.8 Cr for the lake starts to decay. the purpose. The project envisaged In the process methane is produced under that allocation was an ambitious and it causes eutrophication (a process one aimed at reducing the pressure on where water bodies receive excess the lake as a drinking water source. nutrients that stimulate excessive plant The intention was to draw water from growth). The sad part is that even in this the Kallada River too and mitigate the sinking state the lake continues to be lake’s pressure. But that project has the main source of drinking for about not progressed to any level worth the 7,00,000 people. l mention. Official records show that The writer is Master in International Relations, with its original area the lake has the JNU

37

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

Cry of a

river

38

River Periyar from its origin to end would redefine the weak signature of a dying river that either suffers from water shortage or pollution at each of its settlement points. >

Kerala Calling

and vanishing pugmarks Sini K Thomas

W

h y t o i n v o ke curiosity using jargons and e x a g g e ra t i o n that a simple narration of an eco pilgrim to the heart of a river system can portray cry of a dying river! Call it the river Periyar, Choorninadi of Sangham period and the mother of all pioneering urban settlements of Kerala. Mapping the course of river Periyar from its origin to end would redefine the weak signature of a dying river that either suffers from

water shortage or pollution at levees of 244 kilometers, and each of its settlement points. sometimes flooding it before A Western Ghat river, Periyar joining the sea. The natural originates from peak of the course of Periyar has been southern boundary of Periyar redefined with the construction Tiger Reserves and flows of Mullaperiyar dam, not far through Chokkampattimala from its origin, in 1899. valley. Other view is that it originates from Sivagiri hills.

A multi-stream origin Periyar h a d a n at u ra l syst e m of drainage adjoining Mullayar at Mullakudi, developing a system of drainage, absorbing many tributaries, giving way to distributaries, fertilizing

I have conducted a trip from Periyar Tiger Reserves at Thekkady to Munambam beach in Thrissur district chasing the life and legacy of river Periyar.

Thekkady was not crowded, less sporty. The water level of the reservoir was lowest in a decade; an experienced boat www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling

November 2016

>

Thekkady

39 Bhuthathankettu

Periyar at Paniyelipporu: Water level is very low that the rocks at the bottom are seen.

Photos: R Rajasekharan

driver had his assumption.

Boats were boarded at the centre of the lake around 60m away from the actual water skirt. The forest department has halved down the number of cruise by reducing per day carrying into 225 from the usual 450. The setback has affected the season which has begun in October and will last till January.

Vallakadavu, a small township and the first settlement embanking Periyar during its course of 244km follows filthy life style. The lifeline of central Kerala, river Periyar here is a dump yard of human waste, large scale animal waste from unscientific pig farming.

In Vandiperiyar, a township of estate labourers that resembled an old slum town accommodates thousands of Sabarimala pilgrims and has

toilets opening to the river.

Before moving to Kattappana, the second municipality of Idukki District after Thodupuzha, chasing a water body, I deviated to another destination called Thookupalam. It was a reverse course, and the stream was almost dead towards the downstream but added water upward from rocks somewhere near Ramakalmedu. Both Thookupalam and Ramkalmedu are in Karunapuram, a high land-water scarce panchayat k n ow n fo r i t s d e e p d u g bore wells. Water scarcity and water pollution are two contradictory issues within a five-kilometer distance which needs to be addressed. One or two temporary houses were built within the canal drainage itself. Towards the upstream, more visible

imprints of pollution were seen that at Thookupalam and many adjacent small townships on the littoral of river Kallar, pollute the course of river. This is a common phenomenon everywhere that we are yet to learn a culture to pay tribute to rivers, the root of our existence.

A series of workshops welcomed me in frontier Kattappana; some people were washing vehicles directly using spring water from rocks.

The lessons of other small townships prompted me to enquire about water bodies nearby, an easy carriage of all hazardous waste and a manmade short cut to unplanned development. The query took me to river Kattappanayar, carrying dirty water to a canal that reaches Anjuruli waterfalls, which is part of

Idukki dam, where water from Erattayar is being deviated and tunneled to Idukki reservoir.

Crossing Mlamala, a township called Chappathu was visible, which is an important interim shelter for Sabarimala pilgrims and a flood prone area that connects Upputhara and Ayyappancovil panchayats across the river Periyar.

Whether it is for pilgrims or for encroachers of the river banks, the river remain as a safety valve for discharging toilet waste and other urban waste that the river carry them to the Idukki reservoir which forms out of three dams -Idukki, Cheruthoni and Kulamavu. Plastic waste and hazardous waste sediment at the bottom of the reservoir reduce the level of dissolved oxygen damaging aquatic life.

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

Photos: R Rajasekharan

>

Periyar at Aluva

40

Narrow streams push forward the river system as the natural flow of Periyar decreases below the dam.

This indicates sedimentation of solid waste in the reservoir.

The narrow river traverse through Karimban, Vathikudi, Konnathadi, Maniyanpara, Chembankuzhi, Karimanal, Kanjikuzhy, Panamkutty, Kallarkutty and stores water at Kallarkutty dam reservoir.

River Chinnar joins Periyar at Vathikudi panchayat. River Muthirappuzhayaru and water from Kallar and Ponmudi dams join at Panamkutty in Vellathuval panchayat. The downstream of lower Periyar dam flows to Karimanal and reaches Neryamangalam.

Water content enriches the river here at Neryamangalam when it traverses through Ambazhachal and Adimali as Valara water fall joins at Adimali.

A major portion of river Periyar, which has the largest volume of water content among rivers of Kerala, runs through lower Western Ghat, extending upto Neryamangalam. The capillary effect of springs from rocks contributes to the volume of water. Idukki has around 97% mountain and forest cover that enrich Periyar in the form of narrow streams and affluents at different

>

Kerala Calling

intervals. The tributaries M u l l a ya r, Pe r i n j a n k u t t y, Muthirappuzha and Edamalayar join at different junctures and minor tributaries are: Muthayar, Perunthuraiar, Chinnar, Cheruthony and Kattappanayar. The Periyar basin has 13 reservoirs - Mullaperiyar, Erattayar, Ka l l a r, S e g u l a m , I d u k k i , Kallarkutty, Ponmudi, Kundala, Anayirangal, Mattupetty, Lower Periyar, Edamalayar, and Bhuthathankettu.

I reached the next destination, N e r ya m a n g a l a m f o re s t , w h e re t h e m o u nt a i n o u s Idukki ends across the 214 meter-Neryamangalam Bridge, constructed in 1935.

Neryamangalam is the first point of Periyar in Ernakulam district from which it flows to Kuttambuzha, Thattekadu and Bhuthathankettu where the barrage for Periyar Valley river project was constructed t h a t f e t c h e s wa t e r f o r entire Ernakulam district.

Edamalayar joins Periyar before Bhoothathankettu and flows to Kodanadu.

Water level is low at Kuttambuzha, a tribal settlement in the industrial capital. The river Kuttampuzha carries all sorts of waste from the small township to dump into the main course. I saw a stray dog crossing the

river Periyar on the way to Kuttampuzha, giving a clear picture about the alarmingly low water level. A pedestrian can easily cross Periyar under Thattekkadu Bridge near Lord Siva temple. Small boats used for ferry were kept upside down and out of use. A PWD engineer at Bhuthathankettu barrage remarked that an early closure of shutters was required for judicious distribution of drinking water as low water level is an indicator of the impending draught.

I saw some water choking for at the bottom of river Periyar at Bhuthathankettu.

An early draught can affect the Periyar Valley project.

Paniyeliporu was another point of attraction; the eco friendly rocky destination on the levees of Periyar was well maintained despite its low water level.

All other destinations from Aluva to Kodungallore and Munambam spoke of the same tale of unclean cities, s c at t e re d p l a st i c c a r r y b a g s o n w a t e rs i d e a n d carefree consumption of river Periyar. At Aluva, the river bifurcates and the southwesterly distributary, river Marthanadavarma bisects the industrial belt at Eloor before discharging into the backwaters adjoining

the Arabian Sea. The northwesterly distributary, river Mangalapuzha joins river Chalakudy and drains into Lake Vembanad near the Kollam-Kottappuram water way and joins the Arabian Sea at Munambam.

A s p e r a KS P C B s t u d y, none of the local bodies of townships like Vandiperiyar, U p p u t h a ra , C h e r u t h o n y, Munnar, Malayattoor, Kalady, Perumbavoor, Neriamangalam and Aluva maintain proper sewage treatment.The more than 25 small townships or settlements in 12 panchayats along with plantations and major cities embanking river Periyar or adjacent to it on a length of 244 kilometers, where I have moved through were untidy without proper waste management systems.

Among those panchayats only Kumali has a proper waste management system, and among tourism spots only Thekkady and Paniyeliporu were appeared eco-friendly and supported with local participation. Except these, River Periyar is a universal dust bin, receiver of civic effluents from the beginning to the end, despite its low water level.

Pe st i c i d e s , u n s c i e nt i fi c discharges, septage and waste disposed in the river have exceeded the carrying

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

> capacity of Periyar. The inevitability of manmade blockade to generate electricity and distribute water has to be compensated with river recharging. Whether it is a pig farm at Vallakadavu or cattle waste and dhoby huts at Vandiperiyar, or it could be toilet wastes and heavy water from workshops of Kattappana, or open sewage at Chappath, or waste from unauthorised buildings at Cheruthoni dam safety area, the issues need to be addressed carefully.

The industrial wastes and other hazardous materials pollute the river which includes plywood factories of Perumbavur, chemical and other factories of Eloor and Pathalam. Waste left by pilgrims is another burden, as inflow to shrine of Mangala Devi and Sabarimala has to be borne by Kumali, Vandiperiyar and Chapathu. Temples at Thattekkadu, Aluva, Church at Malayatoor, Cheraman Juma Masjid at Kodungallore etc. are on the river banks or near to it making the solution a riddle wrapped in an enigma.

A Water Quality assessment study published in 2014 by Lakshmi E and Dr. G. Madhu states that the overall water quality of Periyar between Edamala and Eloor Ferry Left was ‘poor’ with 24.76 points in an index of 0-100 points. Water is acidic with high conductivity indicating presence of high concentration of ions. Fluoride, phenol, total dissolved solids, and iron are above the permissible limit. Dissolved oxygen in the river is below the permissible limit in Kuzhikandam where industries like Hindustan Insecticides Ltd. and Merchem situated, and at Eloor Ferry Right and Eloor Ferry Left – confluence points of the river.

In Kuzhikandam concentration of Magnesium, Sulphate, chloride, and total hardness is

Kottappuram where Periyar joins Vembanad lake

41 Munambam

above the allowable limit. A pre monsoon pollution analysis at the estuary at Eloor shows high lead content that affects aquatic life.

Dr. M.L. Joseph observes that around 2500 small scale and over 50 large and medium industries function between Angamaly to Kochi in Periyar river basin and Marthandapuzha. The industries located in Edayar – Eloor area consumes water of about 189343 cum/day and discharge about 75% used water. Another study

by Binoy Aliyas Mattamana et al. titled River Sand Inflow Assessment and Optimal Sand Mining Policy Development reveals that River Periyar from Malayatoor to Aluva faces heavy environmental stress out of excess sand mining

that has affected the stability of river banks causing flood.

Geologists are of opinion that the actual extraction of sand from Periyar is more than thirty times of 19178 tonnes, which is the safe extraction amount without causing environmental damage.

pollution are perennial.

River bank settlements are unique pugmarks that brought in a sense of stability to the nomadic mankind. Peryar is one of this kind as Nannangadies, reminisces of old temples (Idukki), old gold coins (Kothamangalam), the famous port in ancient Kodungallore exemplifies it. There are mention about Choorni nadi in Chilappathikaram, Akananooru and Purananooru of Sangham period. Periyar plays an important role in the socio-economic prosperity of Kerala. We nurture a stretch of rurban culture, a culture of rural-urban continuum which is well imprinted on the levees of river Periyar, when Periyar dries and dies pugmarks of life will vanish. l

A direct experience from the beginning to the end of river Periyar indicates a looming draught. Decision of authorities at Bhuthathankettu barrage to close the shutter early is due to the rising demand for drinking water. Wild life also faces the sting of draught dragging them to human settlements especially tribal settlements leading to mananimal conflicts. A worsened situation may lead to a water crisis or even a water war as problems of draught and water The writer is Assistant Editor, District Information office, Kottayam

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

Catch w

42

B

u s i n e s s of wat e r conservation isn’t v e r y d i f fi c u l t t o understand. It’s very simple. It’s like banking. Unless you deposit, you can’t draw.

Rain is the only source of water.

Earth is not. Earth is a vessel to hold the rainwater.

‘Jal hai to kal hai’ they describe the importance of water in Hindi. We calculate our income, our salary and make estimates if we have to conduct a wedding, celebration or a family tour. But the problem is we never calculate our ‘income and expenditure’ for water – what we describe as lifeline, jeev jal etc. This lack of calculation or budgeting in water is one of the root causes for water shortage in states like Kerala.

>

Kerala Calling

How much water you get on your house premises? Or, on your one acre paddy field or farm? It’s easy to calculate. A millimeter of rain falling on one square metre surface makes one liter. When we say 2,500 mm of annual rainfall, it means on each square metre area, you get 2,500 liters of water.

metres in breadth and 20 metres long, total roof area is 300 square metres. Multiply this by Kerala’s average rainfall (3000 mm). Every year you get 9,00,000 litres of water on your roof. This will be suffice for a family of 5 members around three years if you use water carefully. Except for What are the functions of a parts of Palakkad district, building’s roof? It protects the Kerala has good rainfall. inmate from rain and shine. You need not make any But of late, we have realized calculations at all. In most that it can perform one more parts of Kerala, even a poorest duty – collecting the rain and of poor person’s family of five providing it in almost pure members, if they are using form for the inmates to use for water very judiciously, they days and months together. Or will get more water on their for the distant hard summer roof than what is required for days. the domestic use of the whole Have you calculated the family for the whole year. If amount of rain that falls on they have an open well, if roof your roof? If your roof is 15 water is diverted to the well,

here it falls Shree Padre

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

> under normal circumstances, Let us now shift for catching the well wouldn’t dry. rain for farming. Instead of Susthira is an organization at piecemeal approach, we Pariyaram in Kannur district. In shouldn’t permit rain to run the last one decade they have as surface run-off for a long executed roof water diversion distance. Rainwater running for not less than 5,000 open on surface attains very high wells in many parts of Kerala. speed and reaches the sea There are cases of some within a day or two. But if wells which had almost dried, once we make it to percolate now having adequate water to sub-soil, its further travel after two seasons. What they is pretty slow, maybe a few do is divert the roof water meters a day in some cases. collected from gutter pipe or There are not one, many many downpipes to the well after methods for groundwater proper filtration. recharge. But what’s highly Poorer families who can’t acceptable for us is catching afford to buy gutters, pipes rain where it falls. Whatever and filter need not worry. maybe the method, if we Such people have a very low are putting rain inside the cost option. They have to dig earth’s womb in place of its a few say 4-6 infiltration pits fall, it’s very cost effective.

(Mazha kuzhi) at carefully Poor people can also afford selected points. By ensuring to do it. You don’t require that major portion of the rain bringing cement or steel bar that falls on their house site from the city. Infiltration pit, gets percolated there itself, contour bund, contour trench, planting trees – all fall in this their well will not dry. category of in situ ground ‘Catch water where it falls” water recharge category. or in-situ rain harvesting or groundwater recharge is the But methods followed in one need of the day. Each family area or one agricultural land has to make their homesteads need not necessarily hold into a watershed. Rain good at another. It depends water that fills in our on soil type, slope, rainfall compound this year pattern, topography and many is what we lift and other ground realities. As such drink as drinking methods of rain harvesting water from our / ground water recharge has wells next year. to be site specific or location

specific.

S m a l l diameter wells, called recharge wells are very popular in Chennai and Bangalore now. In large areas where there is sufficient run-off, instead of making numerous small structures, it is advisable to go for recharge wells.

Treating the land for soil and water conservation has always to be done on contour lines. Another important point to note is it has to start from ridges and end in valleys. Or in ones individual holding too, from upper end towards lower. Whatever run-off is there at higher elevations, it is beneficial to percolate it there itself rather than allowing it come down and catching it at lower areas.

43

Wo r k h a s t o p re c e d e a thorough on site inspection and planning. As the old saying goes, cheap and eternal way for soil and water conservation, we shouldn’t forget is raising vegetative cover in denuded lands. Structures like rain pits (mazha kuzhi) are only starters. Raising green cover wherever possible is should follow. Once trees take up the job of checking rain, there is no necessity for digging rain pits. l The writer is Editor, Adike Patrika keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

44

Sunny Sebastian

R

ajasthan is a State which occupies 10 per cent of India’s land mass but only one per cent of the country’s water resources.

A State which houses the mighty Thar Desert often finds water dearer than “ghee” (clarified butter). Old timers, especially those in the desert districts, often used to refer to the rainfall—as and when it occurs—as “shower of ghee” (ghee baras raha hai!).

Here water is the ultimate succour and whoever brings this scarce commodity to its terrain is bound to be called no

>

Kerala Calling

The bond of water less than a “redeemer”.

This is what exactly happened to Rajendra Singh, who is referred to as “Johadwala Baba” (the bearded man of check dams), “Paaniwala Baba” and “India’s Waterman” by the people of Rajasthan.

Interestingly, Mr. Singh, who received 2001 Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership after two decades of work among the rural folks in Alwar district, is not originally from Rajasthan and does not claim any inherited wisdom in water conservation—other than what he learnt from the people in the villages.

Singh, who came to Rajasthan with a degree in Ayurveda a n d M a s t e rs d e g re e i n Hindi literature in the early eighties almost with no idea of whatsoever he wanted to do in life, originally belongs to water-rich Meerut district in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

In Rajasthan, despite constant threats to his life, he, with the help of villagers in Thana Gazi tehsil of Alwar launched a campaign against mining inside the Sariska Tiger Reserve. After a long struggle he got a Supreme Court order to close all the marble mines operating in the reserve.

It was not all that easy when he had turned up in Gopalpura, a v i l l a g e d o m i n a t e d by backward Gujjars and Meena tribes nestled on the lap of the Aravalli Mountains, along with five friends from Jaipur.

As Rajendra Singh narrated to me on various occasions in the past this area was chosen as he found the place in dire straits. However, apart from a vague desire to do “something good” he had no clear idea what he would do or be able to achieve. People in the locality initially suspected them to be child lifters or terrorists.

Soon, water turned out to be

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

> three decades with his NGO, Tarun Bharat Sangh(TBS): Over 10,000 ‘johads’ or check dams built with people’s cooperation in about a dozen districts; turning the areas under his activity into agriculturally productive; revival of seven rivulets in Alwar and Jaipur districts ; facilitating the return of lakhs of natives who had migrated in search of work to places like Delhi, Ahmadabad, Mumbai; greater participation of people and introduction of grass-root level democracy.

With the advent of water honour too returned. People derived a new confidence and self respect. While talking to villagers Rajendra Singh would often use the word “Paanidar” which means a respectable person though he would not

R. Narayanan, turned up in Gopalpura in March 2000.

The President felicitated the villagers of Bhanota-Kolyala with the Down to Earth Joseph C John Award.

Rajendra Singh never allowed the village folks to lose their self respect. At any given time in the past he had been flooded with requests from villagers to build “johads’ in their areas. Mr. Singh always made it a point to make them contribute—either 25-30 per cent of the cost or physical labour from their side as he organised funds from various International agencies.

Through water Mr.Singh, a Gandhian, introduced the concept of grass-root level democracy. With the active support of the late Sarvodaya leader Siddhraj Dhaddha, he set up “Arvari Parliament”, a

Thousands of litres of milk, under TBS supervision, started going out of the villages. One of them, Neembi in Jaipur district’s Jamwa Ramgarh tehsil, caught the fancy of UNDP and planners in Delhi as it started producing vegetables and milk worth Rs.3 crores annually back in 1994.

If in those days the “mantra” which guided Rajendra Singh was the well known development maxim, “think globally and act locally” what is driving him now it seems is, “think locally and act globally”. After his success in Rajasthan and the rest of India where he connects with the people through “Jal Biradari”, a brotherhood of those who work in the areas of river rejuvenation and water recharge, Mr. Singh is now on a

The saga of Rajendra Singh the cementing factor. That time many parts of Alwar district had been declared “dark zones” and there used to be regular outmigration of local youth in search of jobs.

Life had come to a standstill in the region as there was no productive action. With farming getting severely affected in the absence of water, bovine wealth, the backbone of rural economy, too had declined.

Now, consider the miracles this he man, now in his late fifties, has achieved in the State’s arid and semi-arid landscape in a period of over

45

miss to point out that the very expression came from water, that is; where there is water there is ‘ijjat’, or respect.

representative body of 72 villages in the areas served by the river. A people’s sanctuary, Bhairudev abhayaranya, too To commemorate the revival was established. of the Arvari, one of the W i t h w a t e r, t ra d i t i o n a l seven rivers brought back village occupation of animal to life, none other than then husbandry returned along with the President of India, Dr. K. viable agricultural practices.

global mission-- a global march, titled “World Water Walk”, to highlight water issues. He has already covered more than 10 countries including UK, Germany, USA, France and Sweden. l The writer is Former ViceC h a n c e l l o r, H a r i d ev J o s h i University of Journalism and Mass Communication, Jaipur

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

R

ajendra Singh whose extensive water conservation efforts and humongous contribution in turning parched lands into green cover, has earned him the title of Water man of India.

Besides, his work has fetched him several International and national awards and recognition. He spoke to Alwar based senior journalist Sunil Jain in an exclusive interview for Kerala Calling.

46

>

Kerala Calling

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

> Why did you choose Rajasthan for water conservation activities?

Rajasthan is an arid region. Drought, famine and misery are common here.

Rajasthan is also known as a state of migration because of the large scale exodus of people that takes place every year because of drought and famine.

When I came to Thanaghazi Tehsil of Alwar in 1985, only elders used to stay in villages and the young people used to go in search of work in urban areas.

At that time the lives of people were filled with helplessness, joblessness and diseases. I first started treating a eye/skin disease called Rathondi which was widely prevalent. When I treated the disease the elders of the village told me that treatment is required for their land as well. Soon we began water conservation activities in Thanagazhi

johads, check dams were constructed in bald mountains and small boundaries to ensure water flowed into the farm land. With the help of these methods we filled the stomach of the earth which led to the water level in wells rising.

There was wetness and moisture in the earth and people began farming. Since people knew that the area received scanty rainfall, they chose to cultivate crops which required less water. Rabi crop season had mustard, grams and during Kharif season they went for jowar (sorghum), bajra (millet), maize, sesame and pigeon pea (arhar). During summers, farmers went for lady finger, bitter goud.

Farming led to reverse migration to the villages. People who used to go to towns in search of jobs now started coming back and doing farming.

What difference you experienced after water conservation?

this has been done with the help of local communities. As a result of our efforts over 2.5 lakh wells have been recharged and the land has become cultivable.

There is greenery all around because of the cultivation of vegetables and food grains. Soil erosion has stopped.

At least nine rivers have come back to life. Lakhs of unemployed youth are now into farming. I believe that the state governments should take water conservation activities in a big way to mitigate the sufferings of the people.

Maharashtra government has taken lessons from Rajasthan. Sangli district of Maharashtra was facing acute problem because of scarcity of water.

With rivers going dry, cultivation of grapes and pomegranate were seriously affected. People started leaving villages in search of employment elsewhere. We organised the local people and started working in Khanpur block. People from

Waterman speaks Excerpts of the interview

tehsil. A villager of Gopalpura named Mangu Ram told me that water needs to be conserved in the belly of earth to prevent the theft of the Sun. What he meant was that if water reached the ground, Sun would not be able to take it away from the upper surface. The flow of water was of two types. One was from higher level to lower and the other on the planes. Wherever the trees were tall and huge, water used to reach the ground through their roots. But in areas where only bushes grew, water remained on the surface and got evaporated.

When the youth started returning to their villages and farming, the region which used to be known as barren started bustling with life and various activities. There was prosperity all around. More people started staying back in villages. There was greenery all around. All the carbon dioxide got absorbed by trees. In turn oxygen and air quality in the area improved significantly.

Cloud formation which was a rarity in earlier days, became quite common followed by rainfall.

here first went to Alwar and saw for themselves the revival of Jahajwali and Bhagani river. We worked in the same fashion for revival of rivers in Maharashtra. Gopal Singh a resident of Garh Basai Alwar went to Sangli and worked along with the local people.

While starting work in Thanagazhi, we Apart from Rajasthan, in how decided to adopt five methods. Where many states have conducted ever the flow of water was fast and similar water conservation the land was a slope, we constructed activities and what has been anicuts or small water harvesting the progress ? masonary dams, in areas where slope During my 32 years of work, we could was less we constructed paal, in areas implement 11600 water conservation where limestone was we constructed schemes in 19 districts of Rajasthan. All rain water storage tanks known as

famine in 2014 - 2015. The people there learned lessons from their counterparts in Alwar and began water conservation activities. Still a lot of work has to be done in the region.

What was the method you adopted for water conservation?

47

After three years the government took over the work and the Agrani river came back to life. This is why I emphasise on the role of government in water conservation and it should understand that water is not private property. It B e s i d e s t h e s o c i o e c o n o m i c is the source of social life and social transformation of the area the climatic management of water can find an conditions too changed drastically answer to dreaded drought. because of water conservation.

Latur was hit by worst drought and

I sincerely hope the governments of the day will give top priority to water conservation activities. l

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

Paani Foundation

The Aamir Initiative Irfan Shaikh

I 48

>

n the summer that went by, the core team of the Satyamev Jayate TV show, which has been working on the issue of water scarcity in Maharashtra through Paani Foundation, a not-for-profit company co-founded by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao, undertook its most ambitious project yet – to make Maharashtra drought-free.

competition would involve ‘shramdan’, or voluntary labour in building important structures and thus, water storage capacities, and the winners would get cash prizes.

The idea was pathbreaking, the heroes were common villagers and the ‘villian’ was a dark, powerful one, drought, which had claimed hundreds of lives and ruined livelihoods in the The idea was thus. Paani past decade.

Fo u n d a t i o n w o u l d t ra i n Initially, the villagers asked, several hundred villagers from ‘Shramdan? We have nothing Three Talukas on watershed of that sort happening here.’ development, and they would The same people eventually go on to participate in the came together, armed with S at ya m ev J ayat e Wat e r shovels and pickaxes to Cup in April. The 45-day long participate in the movement

Kerala Calling

and a revolutionary model of from Government and nonGovernment bodies alike, development was born.

Let me share a bit about work such as the Samast Mahajan done in the Ambajogai Taluka Group, Jnana Prabodhini and of Beed district. In the 45 days the Jalayukt Shivar Abhiyan. marked for the competition, Helping hands found their way 4,203 villagers from 34 to the villages from various villages completed watershed directions. During the course work worth over Rs. one Cr of the competition, physical by working for two hours on structures worth 13 Cr were an average. Here’s how: With completed through donations the per day rate for physical in just Ambajogai taluka and labour being Rs. 191, this total have helped in creating a water amount comes close to more storage capacity of crores of than Rs 91 lakhs, even with litres.

1/4th of the work day taken The villages of Radi Tanda, under consideration. This was K h a p a r t o n e , P a t o d a , Kumbephal, Kolkanadi simply unparalleled.

T he people’s movement and Shepwadi have seen got tremendous support a m e t a m o r p h o s i s t h a t

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

> will now last for decades.

With structures for water conservation being built from scratch, awareness about watershe d d eve lo p me nt spread. But more importantly, it made people across ages and social strata believe in themselves and in their power to solve their own problems.

Beed district reported no incidents of suicides during the Water Cup; many villages witnessed top government officials come down and participate in manual labour. Women who had once united against alcoholism came back together for the cause of water conservation, while the men resolved quarrels and differences. Even the local police noted reduction in crime rate during the days of the competition.

The result? The participating talukas got their reward in front of their eyes even before the competition named a winner on 15th August at a grand awards ceremony.

Thousands of watershed structures blossomed across the village landscape, creating an annual water storage capacity of 1,368 crore litres, an equivalent of 13,68,000 tankers of water, with a market

Satyamev Jayate Water Cup: How a competition stopped farmer suicides, solved water crises and created social change in Maharashtra

value of Rs. 272 crores.

Furthermore, the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup put the spotlight on the locals, as the media arrived to discover their stories, stories of some incredible Water Heroes. What started with a competition turned into an ongoing celebration for a better future.

The long-term rewards weren’t just ample water storage, but the new sense of pride and confidence among villagers.

walking f o r miles carrying vessels and waiting for tankers have hopefully vanished for good.

In the monsoon that followed, the rivers and streams filled up to their brim and for the first time in years, the water stayed in them. Entire villages and talukas now have sufficient water and sights of villagers

The summer and monsoon of 2016 would be remembered for a long time by the several thousands of villagers in Maharashtra, but it would writer, part of Paani Foundation, also mark a new beginning for The was the taluka co-ordinator from the Satyamev Jayate Water Beed district in Maharashtra

Cup competition, which will be held again early next year, and this time, in 30 talukas! Paani Foundation’s work so far is only a testament to the fact that just one simple, powerful idea, if backed by dedication and teamwork, can blossom into a revolution and change lives forever. l

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

49

>

>

Count the Drops

Conserve the water wherever possible Dr. V Subhash Chandra Bose

50 The most essential among all the natural resources on earth is water All steps to conserve water is the step to secure the future

A drop of water is worth more than a sack of gold for the thirsty man

>

Kerala Calling

If each one of us make efforts to save water today , it will save us later

Water conservation is the most effective and environmentally sound method to fight global warming

November 2016

Tips to save Water conservation is what that can reduce the scarcity of water

Water conservation aims to improve the efficiency of use of water, and reduce losses and waste

•

Avoid leakage of water from the taps.

•

Turn the tap off when not in use especially when you brush your teeth or wash clothes..

•

The water supply should be limited in those areas which enjoys the unlimited water supplies.

•

Check the leakage of water in the toilets. Also get check the hidden water leaks..

•

Never throw the water unnecessary on roads and paths which can be used for gardening and cleaning.

•

Avoid unnecessary flushing the toilets

•

Use dual flushing system in bathroom

•

Dispose off the tissues, cigarettes and other www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling

>

If you save water it can save your water bills.

Benefits of water Conservation

Reduction in interior water use cuts waste water flows, especially overflowing of gutters which contaminates the environment.

Environment benefits include eco system and habitat protection.

Water conservation helps in improving the quality of your drinking water.

Proper and scientific locally adoptive water conservation measures assures the water security.

Rainfall is the primary and important source of all water.

Water News

Rain water is the purest form of water in the nature 3 lakh litre rain water falls in 1000 sq feet roof area per year in Kerala

51

1 crore 20 thousand litre rain water falls in one hectre land in kerala per year.

One hectare paddy land hold 3 lakh litre rain water

water : from kitchen to paddy waste into the bin instead of toilets.

the car.

•

•

Use minimum amount of water to • bath.

Capture the water that is leaking and repair it as soon as possible.

Conserve the natural water bodies like pond, streams, rivers, lake wet lands etc

•

Water Waste restrictions.

•

Improvement in the water distribution system.

You can use washing machine • to wash clothes that does not consume much water.

•

Recharge the open well with rain water.

•

Water your lawn only when it is • needed Watering the plants and gardens •

Do not leave the tap running while • washing the dishes in the kitchen.

Report timely to the authorities about public tap leakage.

Install small shower heads to • reduce the flow of water.

Conserve the forests and preserve the water.

Rainwater harvesting is the another • method to conserve water

Digging the rain pits for penetrating water into soil

•

•

on early morning and evening only in summer.

• •

Use a broom instead of hose to clean the sidewalks or to wash •

Use springler methods for irrigation

Catch the rain where it falls

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

52

Watershed treatment for all-round development Satheesh R

T

he rainfall received in the State during the south west monsoon was less than 60% of the average rainfall of the State during the last decade. Because of this the possibility of a drought is looming largely over Kerala.

The global warming induced climate change may bring more such years in future.

Watershed development with stress on soil and water conservation becomes very

>

Kerala Calling

important in this context. It is attempted here to detail the experiences and outcomes of NABARD watershed d eve l o p m e nt p ro j e ct i n Palakkad district .

In the background of agriculture distress and farmer suicides wat e rs h e d d eve l o p m e nt p ro g ra m m e s f u n d e d by National Bank for Agriculture a n d R u ra l D e v e l o p m e n t (NABARD) was implemented in the districts Palakkad, Wayanad and Kasargode

during the period 2009-14 . As part of this project in Palakkad district watershed development activities were implemented in 30587 ha area in 45 watersheds coming in different agroclimatic regions. A watershed is a natural Bio- Geo boundary from which water drains out through a common outlet.

Soil, water and biomass exist in complimentary form in a watershed, deterioration in any one of them may cause

deterioration in others also.

Prioritising of activities for implementation was done on the basis of ridge to valley concept in watershed development.

Palakkad district is mainly agrarian; more than 60% of the population of the district depends on agriculture. Most of the farmers find their livelihood by cultivating crops such as paddy, vegetables, banana and tubers. A large section of the population

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

> activities.

Under area treatment different interventions such as earthen bunts, stone pitched bunts, percolation pits, centripetal terracing , raising of agriculture -horticulture plantations , fodder grass cultivation, pond renovation etc were implemented. Under drainage line treatments brush wood gully pluggings, Gabion wire net gully pluggings and check dams were implemented to reduce the flow of velocity of water in streams and gullies. Since the watershed development activities were implemented in the lands of farmers with their own lands there is the likelihood of the exclusion of landless and poor.

To overcome this 8% of the project fund is earmarked for

People’s participation at all levels such as planning, implementation and monitoring is the most important feature of the project.

providing revolving fund assistance to JLGs of landless, poor and women for livelihood activities. The necessary technical support in project implementation were provided by the Project Facilitating Agency(PFA), eight NGOs functioned as PFAs with Integrated Rural Technology Centre, Mundur ( I RTC ) a s t h e R e s o u rc e Support Organisation (RSO).

The Gram Panchayath (GP) level monitoring was done by the GP level committee under the chairmanship of the GP president.

Salient features People’s participation at all levels such as planning, implementation and monitoring is the most important feature of the project. I mplementation agency at the watershed level for each of this project i s a V i l l a g e Wat e rs h e d Committee (VWC) elected from the watershed level Gramasabha.

Ground Water level improvement The water level in selected control wells coming in the ridge, midland and valley portion of each watershed were recorded periodically during the period from 2011 to 2014. When this data were analysed it was found that in some of the wells in Aalangad Vengasseri watershed of Kadampazhipuram GP, the pre monsoon water level has improved in 2012 and 2013 compared to 2011. We should note that during this period the North East monsoon has reduced in 2011(40.9%) and 2012(67.4%) compared to 2010 . The post monsoon water level has improved very well in 2013 even though the rainfall of SW and NE monsoon put together was increased only marginally by 2.5%.

In Konnakkalkadavu watershed in Kizhakkancheri GP, the summer rains has reduced drastically in 2012 compared to 2011; pre monsoon water level in the well in the land The important of Smt.Jessy (upland side of outcomes of the the watershed) has shown project. increase in 2012 and 2013

53

depends on animal husbandry also. High level dependence on agriculture makes the population vulnerable because of the factors such as climatic variability, deteriorating soil fertility, high input cost, low price for agriculture produce and reduced net margin from agriculture. The activities implemented can be broadly classified as: 1) area treatment activities 2) drainage line treatments and 3) livelihood development keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

from this many of the field supervisors engaged in project implementation were women, 3/4th of the labourers engaged in the different watershed treatment activities were also women. In addition to all the above it came out that more than 90% of the beneficiaries of livelihood activities were JLGs of women.

54

Knowledge dissemination

compared to 2011. Both the above results can be attributed to the intensive soil and water conservation interventions implemented in the upstream areas of the respective watersheds.

third participation of women in all decision making bodies related to Govt.of India watershed development programmes. on the basis of this recommendation, minimum one third Gender equity participation of women was Hanumantha Rao commission ensured in decision making report(1994) insist for one bodies such as VWCs. Apart

>

Kerala Calling

Fo r i m p a r t i n g l a n d a n d water literacy among the stakeholders a series of awareness campaigns, training and exposure visits were conducted. Through this it was possible t o i m p a r t b et t e r awareness on aspects such as importance and different methods of water recharging, better awareness on water management and micro irrigation, planning and management of livelihood

Through the watershed treatment activities it was possible to reduce soil erosion, enhance the soil nutrients level and soil moisture.

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

> activities etc.

Productivity improvement Through the watershed treatment activities it was possible to reduce soil erosion, enhance the soil nutrients level and soil moisture.

This also resulted in enhancing the productivity of perennial and seasonal crops. The yield from rubber gardens improved in the control plots, there is improvement in the yield of coconut and toddy. In paddy fields where insitu organic manure cultivation of green manure crops such as sun hemp, sesame, horse gram and castor were done, there is a substantial improvement in paddy production in the fields of Kuttappan Vattachira, Sasi Nedumpallam,vipin Kumar and sukumaran Pulumpirikalam. Milk collection in the milk societies coming in project area improved mostly because of the increase in fodder grass cultivation.

Case study on improvement in rubber productivity In Konnakkalkadavu watershed, 3 Acre rubber plantation is owned by Mr.Kuriakose, Village Watershed Committee secretary, this land is with 20% slope, Laterite soil and is in Agro Ecological Unit 22. This plot is with severe soil erosion, productivity not commensurate with inputs and faces seasonal water shortage.

Under the watershed development project, 300 percolation pits (1.2m*.6m*.6m size) were dug in July 2009 across the slopes between 4 trees and rammed the excavated soil at the lower portion of pits. Before the intervention (2009), in peak season he was getting 16kg rubber/3days, this has increased to 25 kg /3days in 2011 (36%). In the off season his yield has increased from 9 to 15kg (nearly 65%). He is taking the rubber sap for 10 months in a year.

Implementation through women labour bank In one of the watersheds namely Muttuchira in Pattancheri GP a wo m e n l a b o u r b a n k n a m e l y Sanjeevani with a membership

of 90 women were doing all the watershed treatments manually on the basis of approved unit rate.

Because of this, their net income has increased much higher than their previous daily earnings. In addition to this, they do agriculture operations in the lands of farmers on a unit rate which was fixed after a series of interactions between the VWC, farmers and labour bank office bearers. They are also getting more than 200 days of labour per year through these activities. This additional income has got a telling effect on their quality of life.

Sustainability of institution created The main institutional structure created for project implementation was the VWC. During the project period the implementation fund was operated through a joint bank account of the VWC secretary and a representative of the PFA. In the exit phase the account was fully brought under the VWC.16%of the project fund was collected as beneficiary contribution and a maintenance fund was formed using this contribution. The VWC is responsible for using this fund as per a maintenance plan. The VWC is also operating the livelihood fund by providing RFA to JLGs; this activity is progressing well in the post watershed phase. In the farmer producer company established in the post watershed phase the VWCs were given institutional membership.

Continued from Page 21 management and sustainable use of available water resources. Watershed management wise water auditing integrated at Panchayat and higher levels will help us understand the supply and demand of water at locales and the judicious use of it, especially conjunctive use of surface and groundwater.

The second problem (which is a larger one and questions the legitimacy of the above mentioned state institutions) is the role of the state over decision making regarding ownership, control and management of water services. The neo-liberal shifts in governance marked water as economic good and triggered suggestions of privatization of services. Following this the National Water Policy (2002) suggested policy, legislative and regulatory framework to carry this forward. Kerala is a good case to illustrate how such macro policies gets molded and adapted by financial assistance, technology choices and loss of autonomy. The last decade witnessed financial assistance coming through multilateral funding agencies in urban drinking water (JICA), sanitation (ADB) and rural drinking water (World Bank) that have floated special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to plan, design and implement projects. Studies have shown how there is bloated estimates, lack of planning, consultant-led process that de-institutionalizes the long acquired legacy of public utilities, especially the deskilling of the technical personnel by shifting the design and implementation to hired foreign consultants. Mostly, the real work is done by the indigenous expertise of locally hired retired engineers who has operated and maintained the systems with the confidence acquired through years of Nehruvian legacy of self-reliance.

The watershed development activities implemented under the NABARD watershed project could increase the pre monsoon and post monsoon ground water level in wells coming in the project area, increase the land fertility and improve the productivity. The livelihood assistance provided could help in establishing some successful micro enterprises and achieve Revolving Fund Assistance system with high levels of repayment. Establishment of farmer producer companies with the active participation of VWCs helps in continuing gains of the project. l

However, these are temporary and passing phases of institutional journey and we can easily rebuild the lost capacities if the engineering cadre in the state decides to do it with the political will of the new leadership. Serious thought has to be given to deployment of personnel to local bodies and increasing the capacity of technical cadre for design. Another pressing issue is to capacitate the next generation through appropriate interventions in engineering curriculum to equip them to understand the practical problems faced in planning, designing, operating and monitoring the water services. Could we think of making an interface between academic community and practicing professionals to take this challenge to bring academic inputs into the system, making engineering education more real-world like and also make the water institutions accountable to people? That would deepen the democratic governance opposed to ‘good governance’ as prophesied by the advocates of globalisation.l

The writer is Scientist, IRTC, Palakkad

The writer is professor, CTARA,IIT Bombay

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

55

>

>

K

erala expects two monsoon one is South West Monsoon during June – September and North - East Monsoon during October to December every year. This year, the south west monsoon was down in the state by 34 % of the expected, which caused reduced inflow of water to the reservoirs by about 42 % than expected. This reduced inflow had affected the generation of electricity from hydro electric power stations in the state. This had resulted in an additional financial burden of about Rs 300 Crores by arranging costlier power from outside sources to meet state's power demand.

solely depends on the monsoon. Balance 70 % power is coming from outside state, of which 35 % from Central Generating stations and another 35 % from private power producers outside state through open tender and from power excnages.

Kerala had an installed capacity of 2085.55 MW of HEPs

Category Installed Generation

Capacity capacity –

Mega Watt Million Units (MW) (Mu) Major HEPs

1944

6833

Small HEPs

79.40

266

power projects having a capacity of 771.20 MW is also available. Out of this Kayamkulam NTPC Plant – 359.6MW was being kept idle since the cost of power is comparitively high. Another plant, Kochi BSES – 157 MW is also in closed state for the same reason. However, Diesel power plants owned by KSEB at Brahmapuram and Kozhikode is operating as and when required depending on urgency, eventhogh the cost of generation is high.

By taking into all these constraints, we can expect about 1500 to 1750 MW from HEPs and Diesel Power Plants. Another 1150 to 1400 MW can be met form Central Allocation and balance power required to be met form outside sources.

Private HEPs 62 238 At present nearly 30 % of the state's Total 2085.55 7337 power reqirement is met from generation In addition to these HEPs, thermal The total annual consumption forecasted from Hydro Electric Projects (HEP), which

56

KSEB to Tide over Power Crisis J Mohammed Siyad

>

Kerala Calling

www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling November 2016

>

57

RESERVOIR for the current water year (June 2016

– May 2017) based on consumption IDUKKI recorded in previous years is 24100 Mu. The hydro generation possibilty was PAMBA estimated in anticipation of inflow of KAKKI water to reservoirs, which is also based SHOLAYAR on estimation of expected rainfalls in the IDAMALAYAR catchment area of dams.

KUNDALA In our state, there are 16 reservoirs attached to various HEPs, the present storage levels and generation capability (as on 29/10/2016) The weak monsoon had caused a steep decrease in the inflow of water in the dams under KSEB. As the generation from hydro electric project is the cheapest source of power any decrease in power generation form HEP will needs to be compensated by gettinng power from other sources.

Idukki dam is the major reservoir in kerala which has a storage capacity of 1460 mcm is presently having storage of only 639.418 mcm ie 43.80 % of its total capacity. All togethor, the reservoirs are holding only 51.99 % of its total capacity.

Storage Effective Storage Gen. Capability (mcm) Storage (mcm) (%) (mu) 1460.000 639.418 43.80% 959.127 31.001 4.950 56.29% 515.583 446.542 263.863 149.230 130.813 87.66% 133.299 1017.800 609.440 59.88% 152.360

MADUPPATTY

7.787 4.150 53.29% 113.734 55.217 34.800 63.02%

Group I Total KUTTIADI THARIODE

50.70%

33.990 15.647 46.03% 223.016 201.000 161.350 80.27%

ANAYIRANKAL

48.968 16.010 32.70%

PONMUDI

47.400 18.390 38.80%

Group II Total NERIAMANGALAM PORINGAL

1874.103

63.29%

46.096 269.112

5.557 3.350 60.28%

2.915

30.356 14.800 48.75%

5.180

SENGULAM (SBR)

1.614

LOWER PERIYAR

4.550

KAKKAD

1.160 0.00%

2.690

Group III Total

0.00%

0.000

59.12%

1.237

53.17%

0.000 9.332

51.99% 2152.547

keralacalling@gmail.com November 2016

Kerala Calling

>

>

Comparative position of Water inflow to reservoirs as on 29/10/16

Worst inflow

Year

2012-13 2012

Storage in MU

58

Best inflow

1898.307 1898.307

2013 2014

2015 2016 2007-08

3685.590

3252.876

2454.135

2152.547

3883.115

Hydro Generation in MU

8.318

8.318

28.875

26.753

13.323

13.577

34.777

Inflow in MU

9.588

9.588

14.799

52.768

16.636

7.639

50.148

Cum inflow in MU for water year

3118.071 3118.071 7681.252 5874.921 3980.338 2913.491 7927.918 Comparison of Recorded Maximum Consumption and Demand

Consumption (mu)

Morning MD (MW)

For the month

67.7761

19/10/16

2864 10/27/2016

3604

10/18/2016

2934

10/21/2016

All time

80.4401

29/4/16

3151

4004

4/27/2016

3566

5/5/2016

4/29/2016

Evening MD (MW)

The water availble in all these dams as on Monsoon. About 10300 Mu will be 29/10/2016 is only enough to generate made available from Central Generating power for about 100 days. stations and balance power is being When comparing the inflow of water in arranged from sources outside states all reservoirs, it can be noticed that the through tendering process and also inflow of water is the all time lowest through power exchanges. inflow had occurred this year.

The storage in reservoirs shows a deficit of 301 Mu. Inspite of these worst situation of storage position and inflow of water, KSEB and government is taking its all out efforts to tide over the summer season without any power restrictions.

Out of the estimated energy requirement of 24000 Mu for this year, it is expected to generate about 5400 Mu from our hydro electric power plants, expecting normal rainfalls during North – West

>

Kerala Calling

The average energy requirement per day during October 2016 was 67.7761 Mu and the maximum Demand recorded was 3604 MW. Based on the previous years load pattern, it is expected that the Maximum Demand during this summer season may go beyond 4200 – 4300 MW and average daily consumption about 75 to 78 Mu per day and may even touch 85 Mu.

Day MD (MW)

2017. As per the present estimate it is expected that about 1.5 Lakhs new consumers will be added to KSEB network under this scheme.

Presently arrangements were already made by KSEB to purchase additional requirement of power for meeting the increased demand of power in the next summer. KSEB is also giving more importance in utilising the renewable energy sources like solar and wind to the extent possible.

However, cooperation from all sections of consumers is also required to tide over the power crisis, by contributing their actions and behavioural pattern State Government had already announced in promoting energy conservation and "Complete Electrification program" ie efficient usage of energy. l electricity to all Households by March The writer is Chief Public Relations Officer, KSEBL www.prd.kerala.gov.in/publication/keralacalling

November 2016

Registered No.KL/TV(N)104/2015-2017 Licensed to post without prepayment under No.KL/TV(N)/WPP/148/2015-17

Date of Publication: 01.11.2016 RNI No. 35991/80 Price: ` 12

Printed and Published by Dr. K Ampady IIS, Director, Information & Public Relations Department, on behalf of Government of Kerala and Printed at Orange Press, Thiruvananthapuram, and published at Publication Wing, Information and Public Relations Department, Government Secretariat Annexe, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Editor in Chief: Dr. K Ampady IIS