At Kanegiri village in Alappuzha, a stream passes through the noisy city beside
the roads filled with vehicles. The landscape is idyllic, filled with lush green
trees, huts, houses, and birds playing in the riverbed.
Alleppey is the only center for making boats for all of Kerala. A town with
canals, backwaters, beaches, and lagoons, Alappuzha was described by George
Curzon, Viceroy of India, at the start of the 20th century as the ‘Venice of the
East’.
As the sun rises from the horizon of the Alappuzha beach and strikes golden
rays on the stream, the river comes to life with its water sparkling and that’s
when the alarm goes off for boats at the bay to start their journey.
In and around Alleppey, people travel every day by boat, which is public
transport. The government provides boats as public transport for villagers to
move around and for their everyday, routine visits like going to school,
hospitals and also to travel from one city or village to another. While private
boats are restricted to tourism and fishing, the government serves the villagers
as well as tourists.
The private boats work from 5:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. while the government boats
work from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Fishing boats are only allowed after 6 p.m.
During August, villagers celebrate Onam and participate in a boat race. During
the boat race, about 100 people row one boat and they row for a distance of
two kilometers.
Joy, manager of tourist boats, at Alleppey, says that boathouses are booked for
nine months. Boats cannot be booked during May, June, and July as the
monsoons set in by then.
Pulivendram, one of the boat drivers, says “Even a small downpour makes it
difficult for us to ride the boat and it is very dangerous.”
He said that these boats do not have sophisticated engines and therefore they
avoid risks by not using them during heavy rains and monsoons.
Boats are prohibited post-rainfall for the safety of the public.
The houses, hospital, and school are all built along the banks of the stream.
While the backwaters provide the people with their means of transport, and
water for everything (except for drinking and cooking), it also throws
challenges during rains. But the people of the land are not complaining. They
accept nature and its behavior.
“Do we ever get angry at our mother? We are all her children getting nurtured
by the stream and we accept it when it shows its anger,” says Aliveluamma
who lives at the banks.
The backwaters consist of waters from the Pamba River, Vembanad Lake,
Kuppakuram and other waterways.
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