The well water in many parts of Upper Kuttanad is reddish-yellow with a bad odour and is not suitable for human consumption. Many people, especially those belonging to the below the poverty line category, depend mostly on the shallow canal waters for their domestic chores. Faced with few other options, the local populace have adopted certain crude methods for ‘purifying’ the water collected from wells and canals. Theirs is a simple system passing water through different vessels filled with sand, granite chips and charcoal. Sometimes, the canal waters turn squalid and we have to do filtration twice or thrice,” said Bhargavi, Ponnama and Chinnamma”, who reside on the bund along the banks of the Anchadithode canal at Alamthiruthy-Vamanapuram in Peringara panchayat.

Source: The Hindu February 18, 2017 18:01 UTC