People’s flood monitoring system brings relief to those living along Chalakudy river

People living on the banks of the Chalakudy river are determined not to be caught unawares again after several villages along the river were inundated by the epic floods of August 2018.

Taking a cue from similar community efforts, those living on the banks of the Chalakudy river in Ernakulam and Thrissur districts have formulated a community-based, real-time information system that is founded on reading weather and rain patterns, recording water levels at different points in the river and predicting possible swells, to shift people even before their homes are flooded.

Under the aegis of the Chalakudy River Protection Forum, people in panchayats such as Pariyaram, Meloor, Karukutti, Parakkadavu, and Puthenvelikkara, and Chalakduy municipality have created a people’s flood monitoring system that is fully alert with any danger looming from heavy rain and rising river water levels.

Moreover, the Chalakudy river water level is determined by discharges from several dams, the most immediate being the Peringalkuthu hydroelectric reservoir, which also receives overflow from upstream dams such as Sholayar and Parambikulam.

Using the experience of people, community-level communications through WhatsApp groups and community-to-community communications, panchayats, civil authorities, and the people who are in danger of being affected are informed of the real situation to shift out of harm’s way even before things get out of control, says S.P. Ravi of the Chalakudy River Protection Group.

The groups have also established eight rain gauges along the Chalakudy river, and there are others in Puthenvelikkara panchayat, which help the group predict the possibility of a rise in water level in the river. 

The presence of the community group information system was most visible recently when copious rain fell along the river banks, as in other parts of the State, on July 29 and 30. The water level in the river was not high during the day on July 29. But, it rose rapidly during the night and threatened to reach danger levels just before midnight of July 29 and early morning hours of the following day.

People were warned and some of them were shifted to safer grounds to limit the damage from any possible flooding, says Mr. Ravi. He says similar community efforts were in operation in places such as Meenachil, where the group watching the river is actively monitoring the water levels to warn people of any danger. A people’s monitoring system can play a critical role in disaster management, he adds.