A shutter of the Kanakkankadavu regulator, located downstream of the Chalakudy River just before it joins the Periyar, failed in the early hours of Wednesday exposing multiple coastal panchayats to saline water intrusion during high tide.
The seventh shutter of the regulator-cum-bridge was the one to be affected. The potential saline water intrusion in its wake threatens to affect drinking water supply and lift irrigation schemes thus damaging farming along the areas.
Puthenvelikkara Community Resource Centre complained that no action had been taken to address the problem despite alerting the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in the morning itself. DDMA sources, however, claimed that the Irrigation department had been asked to attend to the problem at the earliest though they were unable to confirm by when it would be rectified.
