Kottayam Inundated: Fresh Floods Force 3,700 to Relief Camps

Even as rain eased briefly during the day on Monday (August 3, 2026), overnight downpours unleashed fresh flooding along the downstream stretches of the Meenachil river and across the low-lying upper Kuttanad region in Kerala's Kottayam district, inundating hundreds of homes and forcing residents to move to relief camps.

The flooding was particularly severe in the low-lying pockets of Kottayam, Vaikom and Changanassery taluks, where overflowing rivers submerged vast swathes of land. Residents in several areas said the water level was higher than during the catastrophic 2018 deluge. Thiruvarppu panchayat was almost entirely submerged, while more than half of Ayamanam and the eastern parts of Kumarakom panchayat also went under water.

Parts of Manarcad, Vijayapuram, Udayanapuram and Vechoor panchayats, along with several areas in Vaikom municipality, also remained underwater after rivers spilled over their banks. In Thiruvarppu panchayat, residents from Chengalam, Kiliroor, Kummanam, Kanjiram and Malarikkal were shifted to relief camps after water engulfed their homes. Floodwaters also entered several houses in the Thamarassery Colony near Kanjiram Bridge, while the Kareemadam area in Kumarakom remained completely submerged.

According to district authorities, a total of 3,714 people have been accommodated in 114 relief camps across the district.

The Meenachil river breaching its banks also disrupted traffic along several stretches of the Kottayam–Kumarakom Road, including Illikkal, Ampakuzhy, Chengalam and Moonnumoola. While buses continued to ply, the movement of smaller vehicles was severely restricted.

The Meenachil, Muvattupuzha, Kodoor and Manimala rivers remain in full spate, breaching their banks at multiple locations and inundating hundreds of houses and vast stretches of farmland. Torrential run-off from the eastern high ranges surged through interconnected canals and backwaters, pushing water levels beyond danger marks in several places. Interior roads disappeared under water, leaving many villages virtually cut off and crippling road traffic.

Experts attributed the unprecedented flooding to an intense cloudburst-like event over the Vagamon hills on Friday night and the early hours of Saturday. According to them, the eastern high-range areas received an average of 20 cm of rain on Friday night, with rainfall ranging from 17 cm to 31 cm in different locations. This pushed water levels higher than those witnessed in 2018, causing unprecedented flooding in Erattupetta and Pala towns. Incessant rain on Sunday night, with an average of 12 cm rainfall, added more water to the river and aggravated the flood situation.

The Kuttanad region, where much of the flooding has occurred, is among the lowest-lying areas in India, with parts below sea level. This makes it particularly vulnerable to inundation during heavy monsoon rains. The 2018 Kerala floods, which devastated the region, are considered among the worst natural calamities in the state's history. While residents compared the current water levels to that event, officials have not yet confirmed the exact scale of the disaster.

Officials and experts warned that with floodwaters yet to recede from the riverbanks, any further heavy rain could push Kottayam into an even more dangerous phase of the flood crisis. District authorities said rescue operations are continuing, and people in still-affected areas have been advised to move to safer locations.