Floods in Kuttanad of Kerala

Why not capture most of the drainage water in the elevated drainages before it reaches the field, thee must be an elevated drainage system that connects to the lower elevation fields. Pumping up hill and then gravity flow down is always a net loss, since it takes energy to pump the water, and there is always energy lost in moving water through any conveyance. If you trap it upstream at higher elevations you might be able to install small hydroelectric generators, maybe not depends on the dam. At any rate you have no use of the electrical generation system and can utilize the proposed wind generated energy for other better uses.

There is heavy monsoon rains in Kerala which is a tropical state of South India.The area covered is very wast.Rivers like Achankovil Aaru, Manimal Aaru, Pampa,Meenachil Aaru etc bring water to Kuttanad and to Vembanadu Back waters.( Incidentally, Kuttanad of Kerala-South India is a tourist spot and if possible please do visit Kuttanad from september to January any year). When the rivers flow from the high ranges to lower areas, they not only carries water from the hills and forests, but also rain water from the thickly populated plains also. The flooding of Kuttanad is a challenging assignment for engineers of India -especially engineers of Kerala state.It requires more studies, debates and discussions. I expected contributions from local civil engineers, Hydrologists etc only .But ,I am happy that you have responded from abroad.Let us keep this topic of discussion live and welcome more engineers to join us. Thanks once again

How much can be copied from the polders constructed in Holland to reclaim land from the North Sea? They faced similar challenges over a fairly large area. I'm no expert in the field...but they seem to be!

Iam not sure whether the eminent engineers of Kerala state like Late P.H .Vaidyanathan etc suggested to impliment the "Thannermukkam bund" and the "spillway at Thottapally", after borrowing some ideas from Holland or not. As there are some reclamation schemes like Holand project, I feel that the engineers of Kerala state are aware of the sea reclamations done at Holland.

Any how, even after the implimentation of the spillway and the bund , the foold situation in Kuttanad has not improved.The" Thaneermukkam bund " has prevented saline water entry to Kuttanad in summer.This has created ecological problems also.

Kuttanad flood control is a complex engineering problem which needs detailed study, brain storming and innovative ideas. I am also not an expert in civil engineering as I am metallurgical engineer worked in the primary zones of iron making.

Regards,

PGPanikkar

Any reclamation scheme must consider the large investment that must continue through the life of the structure. Consider The reclaimed areas of Holland, and hose i New Orleans. The Dutch invest large amounts of money to maintain the structures protecting the reclaimed lands, The State of Louisiana and USACE failed for a few decades and allowed vast development to occur at the same time, which lead to disastrous results of their own doing. If you do not have the guaranteed financial strucutre from your federal government to maintain the structures (if it is a state or local project) you can end up reclaiming the land just long enough for major developments to grow and then see a disaster occur. It is always better to seek a project that is more passive and less costly in long-term maintenance as public funds vary.

Thank you for the mail.Since long, the Kuttanad farmers were making bunds around the land and they dewater the feilds.They sow seeds in the low lying areas after dewatering to cultivate paddy there.The crop is cultivated mostly once in a year only now.

They have tried for a second crop in rainy seasons .It was found that when more than 30% of the paddy feilds in Kuttanad are cultivated for the second crop( in rainy season) the bunds break and paddy feilds are flooded.Many farmers including my father suffered heavy losses due to this.

So the enginers have to find out a method to reduce the water level so that the water pressure on the earthern bunds are minimised .Only way is to pump out the water from Kuttanad area or to prevent that much water coming there in rainy season.

I am sad that no engineer or scientist from Kerala state of India is participating in the discussion. Is this site not popular in Kerala ?