Lanka Island in Kerala Set for Community-Led Tidal Flood Project

Why this Lanka in a Keralam panchayat is betting on people-powered solution to tidal flooding

Lanka, a small island in Ezhikkara panchayat in North Paravur, is set to receive what is probably the first community-led project focused on mitigating high-tide flooding. Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan will inaugurate the Resilient Lanka project on November 15.

The project addresses tidal flooding that has been collectively affecting the property and livelihoods of the coastal population in Ernakulam district of Keralam. It will be jointly implemented by Equinoct, a Kochi-based provider of community-sourced environmental and climate-modelling technology solutions, and the newly formed Happiness Project foundation.

The Ezhikkara panchayat will have overall supervision of the initiative. Its involvement is expected to provide an administrative framework for a project designed around local participation and locally appropriate measures.

From flood monitoring to mitigation

Resilient Lanka builds on a five-year collaboration between Equinoct and the Ezhikkara panchayat. During this period, the two have worked with local communities to document, monitor and assess the impact of tidal flooding.

The new project seeks to use the evidence and understanding developed through that engagement to create measures suited to the specific conditions of Lanka. Its central approach is to place residents who experience tidal flooding at the centre of both planning and implementation.

Residents’ lived experiences, local knowledge and priorities will guide the identification, design and implementation of the measures. This means the project will be shaped by the conditions and needs of the settlement rather than relying only on measures designed outside the community.

“The preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) will mark the first phase of the project, and it will be ready by the end of the year,” said C.G. Madhusoodhanan, chief executive officer of Equinoct.

Madhusoodhanan also said Equinoct had requested the State Planning Board to recognise the pilot as a demonstration model for locally led climate adaptation. The proposed recognition would present the initiative as an example of community-driven approaches to strengthening climate resilience across coastal Kerala.

Three areas of intervention

The initiative will focus on preventing flooding, helping water recede smoothly when flooding occurs, and ensuring that houses and properties are not affected. These three areas connect the project’s long-term planning to the immediate damage experienced by residents and property owners.

Short-term solutions are already being worked out ahead of the tidal flooding predicted for three days from November 9. The lessons from implementing those measures will be incorporated into the DPR, linking the immediate response to the project’s long-term solution.

The panchayat has said it is committed to transparent implementation. Seena Sajeev, president of the Ezhikkara panchayat, said the project would be extended to other tidal flooding-prone areas of the panchayat if it is found successful.

Residents describe a worsening pattern

L.G. Gireesh, a 48-year-old fisherman born and brought up in Lanka, hopes the project will finally bring relief to residents. He said tidal flooding has been taking a toll on the properties and livelihoods of people in the settlement.

“Earlier, there was a pattern to tidal flooding and it was largely seasonal. But now it has become almost a daily phenomenon, and on some days it happens more than once. The time taken for the water to recede has also increased,” Gireesh said.

His account reflects the problem the project is intended to address: flooding that has become more frequent, with water remaining for longer before receding. The panchayat and its partners now plan to convert the community’s experience and the data gathered over five years into a formal mitigation plan for Lanka. [S3-S5]

Source: The Hindu