Varattar is a branch of the

Pamba River The Pamba River (also called Pampa River) is the longest river in the Indian state of Kerala after Periyar and Bharathappuzha, and the longest river in the erstwhile former princely state of Travancore. Sabarimala temple dedicated to Lord Ayy ...

, the third longest river in the

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

n state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

.It is a 9.5 km long water channel that in the past connected and linked the

Pampa The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazil ...

to the

Manimala River Manimala River or Manimalayar is a 92km long river which flows through South and Central Kerala. The river used to be wrongly considered as a tributary of Pamba River before satellite maps became popular, but this was proved incorrect. Manimala d ...

. It flows through the outskirts of

Chengannur Chengannur (also spelled Chengannoor or Chenganur) is a Municipality in the Alappuzha district of Kerala State, India. It is located in the extreme eastern part of the Alappuzha district, on the banks of Pamba River. Chengannur is north of ...

Pathanamthitta Pathanamthitta (), is a municipality situated in the Central Travancore region in the state of Kerala, India, spread over an area of 23.50 km2. It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The town has a population of 37 ...

and

Alappuzha Alappuzha or Alleppey () is the administrative headquarters of Alappuzha district in States and territories of India, state of Kerala, India. The Kerala Backwaters, Backwaters of Alappuzha are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Indi ...

. Its a perennial freshwater source linking two rivers in

and

districts. But greatly diminished instream flow due to encroachments, sand mining and weed growth have severely affected the size and strength of Varattar and it became a river with no water.

Rejuvenation projects

The legislative Committee for Environment inspected the Varattar river bed in 2002 to assess the encroachments and observed that almost two-thirds of the Varattar was encroached by locals for cultivating rice, vegetables, tapioca and fodder grass. In 2014 River rejuvenation project was carried out to revive the river. Land encroachments and sand sedimentations were removed and the flow of water was restored. A second phase of this project was carried out in 2017. 12 acres of encroachments from a 4 km stretch of the river were evicted. Man-made structures constructed along the river were removed through mutual consultations. The ‘Varatte aar’ (‘let the river come’ in Malayalam) campaign was a unique experiment in water conservation and environment management efforts. Varattar has regained its lost glory after the rejuvenation works and because of which water flowing from Koyipram Varalthodu, Poovannappuzhathodu, Poongayilthodu, and Chennathu Puthenthodu through Idanaadu reached Aadipamba, near Panchavadi.

Benefits of the river

The major direct benefits of Varattar are water for Household Use, fertile soil on the banks of the Varattar, means of transporting goods and passengers, irrigating agricultural lands in the two panchayats. The Varattar was a major corridor for transportation of snake boats which came from far to participate in the Aranmula Snake boat race.

References

Rivers of Pathanamthitta district Rivers of Alappuzha district Pamba River {{India-river-stub