The tragedy that Kerala faced for the past two years was not God’s wrath, but due to human greed – a tragedy that was waiting to happen.
The tragedy in Kerala can be summed up as 3G – God, Gadgil
and Ghat. Some social media folks have been suggesting that the unprecedented
floods that sank Kerala to its nose in the past two years was due to God’s
wrath; especially Lord Ayyappa who was so upset at moves to allow women to
visit Him that he decided not to see anyone on Malayalam New Year Day that fell
on August 17. This is absolutely rubbish. Gods can never get angry, sad of
happy. If so, He is one among us – a mortal. But in law, especially in Law of
Torts, the unusual downpour that sank many parts of Kerala last July- August
and this year in north Kerala was an Act of God -- an event that directly and
exclusively results from the occurrence of natural causes that could not have
been prevented by the exercise of foresight or caution. In short, an inevitable
accident. Courts have recognized various events as acts of God—tornadoes, earthquakes,
death, extraordinarily high tides, violent winds, and floods. So, was it just
an Act of God? No, Kerala tragedy was partly an Act of God, but mainly
man-made. After the Act of God, the other 2Gs are Gadgil and Ghat. The concurrent
tragedy and disaster due to floods and landslides in Kerala were just waiting
to happen. Though Kerala gets a fairly good spell of monsoon rains, this time
nature has taught a deadly lesson: Go back to earlier reports on environment and
act. And, act fast. Madhav Gadgil, ecologist and founder of the Centre for
Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, had prepared
an elaborate report as chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel
(WGEEP). The Commission was appointed by the Ministry of Environment and
Forests of India. The commission submitted the report to the Government of
India on August 31, 2011. Note the month – the same month in which disaster
struck Kerala in both the years. Soon after tragedy struck Kerala, Gadgil said
that irresponsible environmental policy is to be blamed for the recent floods
and landslides in Kerala. He rightly called it a "man-made calamity".
He said that the committee report had recommended protecting the resources with
the cooperation of local self governments and people, but those recommendations
were rejected. He also pointed out that quarrying is a major reason for the
mudslides and landslides. Most of the regions impacted by this monsoon were
once classified as ecologically-sensitive zones (ESZs) by the Gadgil Committee.
According to environmentalists, the committee's recommendations were
strong enough to protect then sensitive Western Ghat region. The committee had
suggested that 140,000 kilometres of the Western Ghats be classified in three zones
as per the requirement of environmental protection in the areas.
In some areas, the committee recommended strong restrictions
on mining and quarrying, use of land for non forest purposes, construction of
high rises etc. But the Kerala government rejected the committee report and virtually
dust-binned it. In fact protesters burnt Gadgil’s effigy and he had to return
as a sad man. Had the recommendations been implemented, much of the landslides
and loss of lives due to overflowing rivers could have been avoided. According
to environmental scientist Dr VS Vijayan, a member of the expert panel on the
Western Ghats, what is happening in Kerala is simply a man-made disaster. That
is an understatement. He said the impact should have been limited if the Gadgil
committee report, aimed at protecting ecologically-fragile mountain ranges, was
implemented. He attributed the floods to human incursions and unscientific
developmental activities in ecologically-sensitive areas. Other
environmentalists also point fingers at the extensive quarrying, mushrooming of
high rises as part of tourism and illegal forest land acquisition by private
parties as major reasons for the recent calamity The Commission recommended
freeing the Ghat region and areas around rivers and rivulets and to go in for
massive forestation drive in hilly tracts. However, when the findings were made
public, Christian organizations in Kerala strongly protested since most of the
farmers in the hilly regions were Christians, especially in Wayanad. In the
last century, a very large number of Christians had migrated from southern
Kerala and acquired forest land in Wayanad and other areas with abundant forest
and waste land, in what is known as Malabar Migration. The Gadgil Committee
report was criticised for being excessively environment- friendly and not in tune
with the ground realities. People describe Kerala as a land of greenery. But
the reality is that many stretches that appear to be thick forests for the
untrained eyes are actually plantations. Kerala’s ‘success’ story, as many say,
is that of unbridled avarice, corruption and environmental rape. A Church-sponsored
political party was in the forefront of this uncontrolled destruction of
Kerala’s forests for many decades. The modus operandi was simple: The Church
used to send a group of destitute laities to the highlands of Idukki or Wayanad
and illegally occupy reserve forest lands. They would start cultivation on the
encroached land and soon a settlement were formed. Forest cover vanished and
was replaced by plantations in the Western Ghats. It was an explosive mixture
of organised religion, votes and greed. By the 80s, other communities had
learned the trick and had formed their own pressure groups to repeat the
process with varying levels of success. As people became rich, the levels of
greed to went up. Plantations started losing their charm due to militant labour
movements. So, the rich turned to quarrying the Western Ghats which was an
easier way to riches. No political party dared to take on the Church, the
quarry and sand-mining mafia, the influential business class or the labour
unions. That is why when the Gadgil Committee report came in 2012, the influential
Church took it as a prestige issue to defeat the purpose of the report.
Politicians too vilified the report as lots of votes were at stake; so, let
Nature be damned was the attitude of the political class across the spectrum. A
watered-down version of the report by Dr Kasturirangan was accepted in principle
and was forgotten the moment it was filed.
After plantations and quarrying came the tourism boom. This tripled the pressure on environment. Illegal resorts boomed on encroached lands. The power of this mafia could be guessed from the failure it inflicted on a strongman like VS Achuthanandan, who declared war on encroachment during his tenure as the Chief Minister. But it is unfair to single out the Church alone in this unscrupulous race to satisfy their avarice and greed. The builders in the city, the amusement parks of politicians and many such people belonging to all caste, creed and religion, have contributed to messing up what many proudly say God’s Own Country. Today, Kerala is one large haphazard city built on either side of national and state highways, filled with people who bring life to a standstill if an inch of their land is taken away for a public cause. Hence it was not surprising that when the flood came, it affected the entire state. Today, Kerala has posh houses – what are called Dubai Mansions – even in remote villages. But none of the neo-towns have proper drainage system or lung space except the ones built by the British. Hence this current disaster was just waiting to happen. “Insensible use of land, soil and rocks led to this deluge. Landslips and flash floods happened in areas that witnessed widespread human incursions. I hope everyone will learn a lesson from this. Due to climate change, such tragedies are bound to increase. Nobody can stop rains or control floods. But we can take measures to lower the intensity of such impacts,” said Vijayan who was part of the Gadgil panel. In 2010, the Centre set up an expert panel under Gadgil following widespread concern that the Western Ghats, which plays a key role in breaking rain clouds over the subcontinent, was shrinking due to human incursions. When all six states falling under the Ghat region (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat) opposed the recommendations, another committee was constituted under former ISRO chief Kasturirangan. Kasturirangan had made some changes in the zonal classification and reduced ecologically sensitive areas to 37% from 64%. But still many states opposed it saying people living in the fringe areas of Ghats will be thrown out of their habitat if the report was implemented. Nature is back with fury. Flood waters have washed away all the encroachments on river banks. Kerala should go back to the Gadgil recommendations and see that encroachments do not mushroom again. In fact, the state is now paying huge compensation to encroachers who lost their homes in the current floods. Rehabilitate them elsewhere. At the same time, the state should go in for afforestation on a war footing in eco-sensitive areas. Unfortunate part is that God’s Own Country is filled with people who have scant respect for nature. The present tragedy has given an opportunity in disguise. The floods have changed the topography of the State. It is time to build a fresh state of Kerala with proper planning. Take Gadgil ‘pill’ seriously, however bitter it is.
Author: Shankar Raj
R Shankar was Former Editor, The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala. He has over 30 years of experience and continues to contribute articles to various publications and online platforms.
