Climate change, Sanitation and Alleppey Town
Climate change and its consequences have been felt in every corner of the world. And a small coastal town in Kerala called Alleppey is no different.
The confluence of urban flooding (as part of climate change) coupled with Alleppey’s sanitation challenges has threatened the lives and livelihoods of each of its citizens. I want to shed some light on its uneven distribution and impacts — how it changes among different spaces and classes. Finally, a discussion on the commitment of the governing body of the municipality to reduce the effects of climate change on this small coastal town. This discussion aims to provide a new perspective and serve as an enabler for a paradigm shift in the current pattern of development in small coastal towns in India. And these initiatives of Alleppey would serve as the best example for other cities across the world who are under the threat of urban floods.
Climate change in Small coastal towns
According to the IPCC 2021 Report, the global average temperature has risen about 1.1 degrees Celsius. The consequences are extreme weather, unprecedented cyclones, and incessant rains, among several others. But Alleppey has never faced issues like that.
Unlike the eastern coast of India, which witnesses frequent storms, the western coast has often boasted of having a stable climate cycle. So, towns like Alleppey were never really bothered about their drainage and sanitation systems. But post-2018, the frequency of cyclones in the Arabian sea increased tremendously and the low-lying regions of the town began to get affected by floods and long inundations.
The major impacts of urban floods are often deaths and the destruction of properties. Other impacts were traffic jams, power and network failure, and livelihood challenges.
But Alleppey’s challenges were different. The biggest threat this coastal town faced was — epidemics — an aftermath of the flood.
But what has constituted this situation?
What pre-conditions of Alleppey have aggravated this issue?
Alleppey’s sanitation infrastructure
Alleppey’s drinking water and sanitation issues are infamous. There have been several pieces of literature that highlight the plight of this coastal town lying 2–8 meters below sea level and its certain peculiarities that exacerbate its sanitation issues.
Alleppey’s groundwater table is only one meter below the ground. It is largely contaminated by fluoride and septic tank waste. The town also doesn’t have proper sanitation infrastructure. According to a survey conducted by IIT Bombay and KILA, more the 70% of the town’s septage waste management facilities are unscientific. The septic tanks often allow the percolation of septage waste into the groundwater. The town is rich with a vast network of canal systems which functions as stormwater drainage. Unfortunately, the canals are also serving as a conduit for liquid waste as well.
Alleppey has a population of about two lakhs. According to NEERI, Alleppey produces 250 grams of organic solid waste, per capita, per day, equating to about 50 tonnes of organic waste, on a daily basis. According to Alleppey’s Haritha Karma Sena, a volunteer organization working on plastic waste recycling in the town, about 80 tonnes of plastic waste is produced every month. Due to the unscientific solid waste management techniques, a large chunk of solid waste reaches the canal systems.
Tap water is the major source of drinking water in Alleppey. Added to the already worrisome trend, during monsoons, wastewater from canals often seeps into drinking water pipelines through the cracks and leakage in the latter pipelines.
Unequal flood impacts
The flood distribution is often reliant on the town’s topography. The high elevated regions are in the midst of the town. Commercial establishments and elite houses are concentrated here. The stormwater naturally flows into the low-lying peripheral regions located mainly in the eastern and western boundaries.
In the eastern boundary, four stormwater outlets dubbed Thumboly Pozhi, Muthala Pozhi, Ayyappan Pozhi and Vadakkal Pozhi discharge water to the sea. The road network and land development over the last few decades have drastically vandalized natural hydrology. Blocks are created in the western outlets in turn creating stagnation of water in the low-lying areas. And due to that, the flooding in these regions creates a prolonged inundation of up to two weeks as it takes longer to be discharged into the sea.
Wastewater and solid waste also flow into these low-lying areas. This intensifies the already unfortunate situation. The communities living in these areas are forced to make long exposure to the highly polluted flood water. The polluted water contaminates their drinking water sources. Only to testify, in 2021, about 900 residents were diagnosed with diarrheal diseases.
Alleppey’s ecosystem is also unequal. According to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, the vulnerability and resilience capacity of individuals greatly determines the risks from floods and epidemics. And Alleppey is highly vulnerable to its residents.
The municipalities effort to establish an equal neighbourhood
The current Municipal council of Alleppey has shown some serious commitment toward breaking these inequalities. Equal space for everyone and equal living opportunities has been part of its developmental agenda.
The council now has new and dynamic leadership, with a woman chairperson, who represents one of the marginalized areas of the region. To deal with the urban-flooding issue, she spear-headed three programs.
These are:
Nirmala Bahavanam Nirmala Nagaram
Mazahythum Munpe
Ente Bhoomi Ente Bhaavi
Nirmala Bahavanam Nirmala Nagaram
The ‘Nirmala Bahavanam Nirmala Nagaram-Azhakode Alappuzha’ (Clean home — clean city — Alleppey with prosperity) campaign was launched with the intention to promote decentralised solid waste management. It promotes segregation and management of waste in every household itself. With the slogan ‘My Waste is My responsibility,’ the initiative encourages every individual to take responsibility for their own waste. This ensures no one is holding the burden of someone else’s waste.
This campaign emerged from a situation which was prevalent in Alleppey. For decades, the governing bodies were dumping solid waste in an adjacent village called ‘Sarvodayapuram’.
After several protests from the residents of the village, the governing bodies decided to initiate a practice of residents managing their waste intheir own premises. This was the very beginning of decentralised solid waste management which then spread to the whole state of Kerala. The project was initiated by the former Finance Minister of Kerala, Dr T.M. Thomas Isaac. The current project is its continuation.
Mazahythum Munpe
Another campaign which was launched was dubbed ‘Mazahythum Munpe’ (Before the Rains) — a pre-monsoon canal rejuvenation drive to ensure the proper flow of clean water.
As part of this initiative, the council allocated about 1.5 crore rupees for cleaning up the canals of every ward. The program was organized in a campaign form to ensure the participation of communities living near the canal bank. This initiative hopes to reduce urban flooding to a large extent and provide a neat and safe environment for the residents of Alleppey.
Ente Bhoomi Ente Bhaavi
The third program by the municipality is called ‘Ente Bhoomi Ente Bhaavi’ (My Earth, My Future) — aimed at school students. This encourages the future society to learn essential life skills in the context of changing climate. At the beginning of this initiative, more than 1000 environmental classes were announced in 42 schools in Alleppey. The contents of these awareness campaigns are oriented to the local context and local issues pertaining to individual households.
As part of this, a school-level pledge was organised to ensure the participation and solidarity of students. A hands-on training program was also a part of this initiative to enable the students to compost their organic waste and use it as manure for organic farming in their school compound.
In addition, the students visited the plastic segregation facilities of the Municipality to learn about plastic waste segregation techniques. This event was organized by the Haritha Karma Sena.
According to the Municipal Council’s Vice Charman, PSM Hussain,
“This is not just an effort to convey a message about waste management. This will build a culture among students to take responsibility for their own waste. They will also encourage their families to take up this practice because segregation and circulation of waste into vegetables is not just a technique, it is a life skill for the upcoming generations”.
The politics of waste management
A healthy ecosystem is the right of every living organism. The 2022 Stockholm Convention has reinstated its 50-year-old slogan ‘Only One Earth,’ for they believe inter and intra-generational equity is the essence. Alleppey’s context is not so different.
This small coastal town is facing the consequences of climate change. Lifting them to an equity environment is the responsible thing to do. And establishing equity is one of the core ideas of the Left-wing spectrum. And here a Left leading municipal council is doing its best to avert an ongoing crisis and to lead the future generation of Alleppey towards a circular economy. Manure production and vegetable farming at schools, segregation and recycling of plastics are paths, are all paths that lead a better world. It is not only an act of sustainability. This municipal council, its stakeholders, and the residents of this small coastal town are wall walking toward attaining intra-generational equity.
