Kabani river dries up, fears of bitter drought hit farmlands

KOZHIKODE: Kabani river, a major tributary of Cauvery, has been reduced to a bed of sand and rocks in large parts,  spreading fears of an impending drought among the farming community of Wayanad and bordering districts of Karnataka.
The Bairakkuppa panchayat of Karnataka and Mullankolly panchayat in the state joined together in constructing a check-dam last week across the river as the drinking water projects of both the panchayats were hit due to water shortage in the  river.

Known for its robust flow both during the  summer and monsoon, the river had earlier dried up only in 2004.   Over a thousand hectares  of coffee and pepper farms of Pulppalli and Mullankolly panchayats had perished then.

Mullankolly panchayat president Girija Krishnan told Deccan Chronicle that the
river without water meant   the death-knell for the farm sector in two agrarian panchayats of Pulppalli and Mullankolly.

“Now tender coffee and pepper farms have started drying in areas like Kabanigiri, Seethamount, Parudeesa and Parakkavala and the paddyfields have developed cracks, a sign of acute water shortage”, she added.  

Pulppalli panchayat president Bindu Prakash said  that the water flow to  Kabani from other smaller rivers and streams had dried up earlier this year. “Though there were many check-dams across these rivulets and steams, all were damaged by miscreants”, she added.

However, scientists pointed out that the crisis would continue for a few more weeks hitting the drinking water distribution and irrigation systems. Meteorologist K.M. Sunil of the Centre for Climate Change, Soil Upgradation and Rice productivity at Pattambi said that the geographical distribution of rain  this year was disturbing.

“The rain stopped much earlier affecting the water resources and weather indicators also warn about a bitter situation in the coming years,”  he added.