Alappuzha: The Maanathara library at Champakulam in Alappuzha district lost rare collections in the 2018 deluge. After nearly five years, its reconstruction works wrapped up. The building was inaugurated on Monday.

However, the rich repository of intellectual stimuli is entirely different from what it used to be before the floods. 

Now, one is greeted by staircases to a raised foundation platform before the floor area.

In fact, the traditional construction style of Kuttanad has transformed over time with the residents in constant struggle to find a haven from recurring flash floods, now hitting them every monsoon since the 2018 deluge.

“The library is reconstructed in a flood-proof manner after it was badly damaged in the 2018 floods. Many prominent personalities like the chief secretary Dr V Venu were members of this literary treasure trove. However, a lot many rare books got destroyed back then. The floor area is now above the level where flood waters enter during the monsoon season,” said Champakulam block panchayat member Ajith Kumar Pisharath.

The aforesaid construction style is now being followed in the region be it the newly constructed Edathua police station or private buildings in the area. "The effort is to have flood-proof houses," he pointed out.

This is the story elsewhere as well in low-lying Kuttanad: “The newly-built structures are all with unusually high foundation platforms. The sub-centre of the panchayat office, which is set to be inaugurated soon, follows the same style. Similar is the government school building and the newly constructed houses in the area,” noted M C Prasad, Kainakary grama panchayat president.

Kuttanad is one of the most vulnerable regions to the climate emergency and has experienced severe flooding during the monsoons since 2018. Over 180 houses were partially damaged, and three completely, after heavy rains for a two-week span resulted in Pamba, Manimala, and Achankovil rivers breaching banks downstream.