Adapting To Flooding In Kerala

MANKOMBU, INDIA - AUGUST 20: Chinnu Santosh, a homemaker, plucks star jasmine (Jasminum multiflorum) flowers growing in flood water outside her house on August 20, 2024 in Mankombu village, Kuttanad region, India. Kuttanad—a 900 square kilometer delta region in Kerala, located 2.2 metres below sea level, the lowest-lying zone in India, and serviced by the flow of the Pamba, Achenkovil, Manimala and Meenachil rivers is a template to show human coexistence with nature and water. Unplanned development, an abundance of water and the geographical uniqueness of the region causing the riverine network to flood frequently making homes uninhabitable, agricultural fields hard to cultivate and infrastructure inaccessible, posing significant eco-climatic and hydrological challenges to the residents. People in the region are adapting to these challenges with innovation and understanding of the land by raising their homes above flood levels, building new homes on stilts and living in uneasy harmony with the land and the rivers around them. (Photo by Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)