Floods in Gods own Country : Are we responsible for the Natures (Gods) Fury?

Floods in Gods own Country : Are we responsible for the Natures (Gods) Fury?

Kerala, “Gods own country”, the idyllic tourist destination, is facing one of its worst floods in nearly a century, with torrential rains killing more than 300 people, and shuttering just about everything. The monsoon floods have inundated most districts of Kerala and severely affected men and material, inflicting an estimated economic loss of 8000 plus crores of Rupees. Is this because of the torrential rains alone. May not be. Most ecological experts are attributing the devastating floods and landslides to the extensive quarrying, mining, mushrooming of high-rises on the hillside as part of tourism and illegal encroachment of forestland by human environmental fundamentalists. It is therefore not the “Gods fury” that is responsible for the catastrophic consequences but the act of the environmental fundamentalists, who do not understand the value of coexistence with nature. A closer look at the regions impacted by this unprecedented catastrophe shows that they are majorly part of the western ghats and most of these places were classified as ecologically-sensitive zones (ESZs) by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), also known as the Gadgil Committee.

The WGEEP panel under the chairmanship of Prof Madhav Gadgil, ecologist and founder of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, commissioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India, painstakingly crafted their monumental report addressing some of the ecological consequences in the very regions that are now adversely affected. Prof Gadgil, in his preface to the report, says “the report embodies among other things (i) categorisation of the Western Ghats into three zones of varied ecological sensitivity, based upon careful analysis done by WGEEP, (ii) broad sectoral guidelines for each of these zones, and (iii) a broad framework for establishment of the Western Ghats Ecology Authority”.

This report was submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2011. The report recommended that the whole Western Ghat be divided into 3 zones, and that no new mining licences should be given in zone 1 and 2. It further said that the Government must stop all existing mines in Zone 1 by 2016 and it must also stop illegal mining activities immediately. Unfortunately no action was taken on the report since the recommendations in the report were considered as a bitter pill, which no Government would wish to swallow, particularly because the implementation of the report would hurt the powerful mining lobby of South West India with deep pockets and high level political connections. The report therefore started gathering dust and the ministry also did not release this report to the media for public discussion. An RTI activist from Kerala learnt of this report and sought for the report from the union Ministry under the RTI. The government did not furnish the information citing security concerns. Undeterred, the applicant agitated the matter right up to the CIC and finally the CIC ordered the government to make the report public, which the Ministry earnestly followed.

The Gadgil committee report sparked much controversy in Kerala especially as the opposition CPI-M accused the report of being too environment centric. This resulted in no action by the Government. The Supreme Court intervened in the matter and directed the government to act on the report. The result was formation of another committee, the Kasturirangan committee, which was set up to review the Gadgil committee report and suggest changes so that the states can implement the recommendations of the Gadgil report, keeping in mind the welfare of the inhabitants as well. Kasturirangan led-High Level Working Report (HLWG) was submitted in April 2013. The Ecologists say the HLWG is a dilution of Gadgil report and, therefore, unacceptable. There were agitations and protests even against the Kasturirangan report by quarry owners and farmers specially in the Idukki and Wayanad districts, the very districts that are now worst affected. Political leaders and mining companies too joined hands to fight against the report resulting in hardly any action on either of the reports.

Would the consequences of the torrential rains be the same as we are now witnessing had the Gadgil report been acted upon? Well my guess is as good as most of my friends. Professor Gadgil himself however feels the current catastrophe is man made. Let us hope we learn lessons from this tragedy.

A brighter side to this tragedy is the exemplary role played by the rescue teams. The brave heart Indian army, the common Samaritans and the NDRF team. They are reaching out far and wide to the most afflicted areas. Kudos to the untiring team of our defence personnel including my fellow Ajeet (alumni of the Sainik School Bijapur), Wing Commander Girish Komar, who is working with his 7 helicopters team untiringly and has managed to rescue 1000s of people and will continue to do so till they manage to reach out to the last needy person. Nation owes its debt to such committed armed forces and other Samaritan’s and governmental and non governmental agencies who are committed as ever in ensuring the safety and security of their countrymen. Jai Hind.