Flood 2018 & 2019

Flood 2018

Pathanamthitta always had a pleasant and an extraordinary natural climate since it is rich in flora, fauna and thick evergreen lush forest. The monsoon, winter and the hot summer equally share throughout the year without causing any harm to the people, wildlife and to its topography.

But all the climatic history of Pathanamthitta was washed away by the unusual excess heavy rainfall which started on 14^th August 2018 midnight. A sudden water rise was observed in the Ranni town around 3am on 15^th August 2018 creating a panic situation. The completely disturbed Pampa river washed away its shores, flooded and created an unusual panic situation on its banks. Similar conditions were observed in Achankovil and Manimala river too.

History shows that, such a flood or a similar situation with the same water level occurred in the year 1924. The last known great flood was in the year 1998 with less casualties. By examining all the floods that have occurred so far, we can understand that water will rise from noon to night and will be flown away by the next morning. But in 2018, everything was beyond our calculations and expectations.

On 16^th August 2018, the intensity of rainfall increased to its maximum and all the midland areas of the districts such as Ranni, Kozhencherry, Aranmula, Konni, Pathanamthitta town, Mallappally were noted a record water level of 10 to 15meters height than normal. From 17^th August 2018, the flow rate from the midland area increased and the low land areas of the district such as Thiruvalla, Kuttapuzha, Chengannur, Pandanad,Kuttanad started flooding.

Most of the areas of the district were flooded by the 2018 flood, people lost all their belongings since they did not even get a minute to shift their households to a safer place. An uncountable number of landslides occurred inside the forest which changed the topography of the forest as well as the river path. A large amount of sand was deposited on the banks of Pampa river which was an uncommon situation ever seen.

Pathanamthitta got rescue aid from major rescue teams such as Indian Army,Indian Navy and National Disaster Rescue Team (NDRF). A large quantity of food materials, clothes and other important daily use items were received from various parts of the country and from outside the country. Many political parties, charity organizations, NGOs, social clubs worked together with the support of District Administration and Government of Kerala in rescue, cleaning and mitigation works. All together Pathanamthitta survived the situation only with the support of people and government machineries.

In flood mitigation activities, the role of volunteers was indispensable. More than 3000 volunteers from all over Kerala were involved in various voluntary activities like :

1. Recovery

Rescue and Recovery of people from flooded and landslide hit areas to safe shelters. Were done with the help of volunteers.

2. Food & Medicines Distribution

Foods & Medicines were distributed from various collection hubs to shelters for the rescued inmates. Around 500+ volunteers were involved in the distribution programme.

3. Packing

Volunteers were engaged in sorting & packing of medicines, foods, groceries and other essential items. More than 2000 volunteers from various colleges, clubs, schools, NGOs took part in the activity.

4. Field Survey

A Survey of damaged assets like homes, shops, apartments, other personal belongings including vehicles with the help of panchayath and volunteers was conducted. Schools and colleges were also active in the activity with their volunteers.

5. Data Entry

The Survey was successfully completed and the datas were properly documented and reported by the volunteers itself.

6. Cleaning

After the rescue operations, volunteers concentrated on rebuilding the livelihood of the people. The flooded houses and buildings were cleaned and disinfected under the initiative of volunteers.

Main hub centres where packing and distribution of materials were done are as follows. :

1. Marthoma Youth Centre, Adoor

2. Mary Matha Public School, Pathanamthitta

3. Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Pramadom

4. ASAP Centre Thiruvalla

Flood 2019

Kerala again witnessed a wide scale devastation due to ravaging floods in August 2019. The heavy rains and landslides had resulted in the complete destruction of infrastructure and means of livelihood of people in many places across the state.This time Northern Kerala was worst hit by the floods and the landslides, especially Kavalappara in Malappuram district and Puthumala in Wayanad district. Even though Pathanamthitta wasn't much affected by the 2019 floods, the District Administration and the volunteers did a great job in extending aid to flood affected districts of Northern Kerala. We worked together to coordinate and channelise the food and relief material supplies to a large number of shelter camps in the worst hit regions. Two collection points were arranged in the district namely, DIET Thiruvalla and Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Pramadom for collecting relief materials to be transported to the people living in the flood affected areas. Volunteers from various schools, colleges, NGOs and other organizations played an active part in collection, storage and transportation of food items, drinking water and other essential commodities.

Around 500 volunteers worked across the district in various collection hubs for flood relief activities. A special team of officials was deployed at both the collection centres to oversee the distribution of food, water and medical aid. The district had sent more than 15 trucks loaded with relief materials to the northern districts of Kerala.