The imperative need to look at floods and landslides in Kerala through a global lens
Abhijith A V (NIDUS) | Waynad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samithi
All of us are enduring a geological epoch characterized by a global impact on earth systems driven solely by human beings: Anthropocene1. Never in our evolutionary history have we noticed the repercussions of our own deeds to this extent. It is also feared that the Anthropocene would mark the beginning of the sixth mass extinction2. Strong evidence in favour of this school of thought stems from climate change that has had an irretrievable effect on the chemical, physical, and biological processes that oversee the balanced functioning of earth systems3. However, the innumerable attempts to enlighten the masses regarding these issues have largely proven to be futile. Rather than giving these matters the attention they deserve and assuming responsibility for our actions, we have quite foolishly chosen to turn a blind eye towards them. And for obvious reasons, economic development has been a strong driving force in shaping such ignorance.
In recent times, we humans have started falling prey to the backlash of climate change. As the anthropologist Richard Leaky warned us, “Homo sapiens might not only be the agent of sixth extinction, but also risks being one of the victims”. Even though there has been an observable shift in the climatic conditions across the entirety of the earth’s surface, certain landscapes have witnessed a drastic change due to their respective geographical characteristics among other reasons. Within the Indian context, the long Western Ghats mountain barriers that line up along the west coast deserve a special mention in this regard.
This mountain escarpment that runs through six states acts as a climate gatekeeper of the subcontinent. For millennia, it has interacted with the southwest monsoon influencing the climate patterns across India4. This has further played a huge role in moulding the spectacular cultural diversity intermingled by agricultural practices. But lately, the subcontinent, especially the states surrounding the Western Ghats have been experiencing a re-patterning of monsoon with delayed arrival, unpredicted cloudbursts, cyclones, and sporadic rains being a few of the many anomalous red flags observed in the past few years. Unprecedented warming of the Arabian Sea (due to global warming) compounded by the role Western Ghats play in patterning the monsoon could be understood as the underlying reason for such re-patterning of climate. However, the escalated flooding and landslides could only be attributed to the deplorable land use patterns around these mountain ranges.
Indira Gandhi in the 1970’s had warned us of how large scale conversion of forest systems into monocultures and developmental projects would not only have detrimental effects on the balance of the ecosystem, but would potentially backfire through floods and landslides if not urgently attended to. This is where the recurring floods and landslides in Kerala makes for an important and interesting case study.
Kerala is a narrow strip of land that lies towards the steep western slopes of the Western Ghats except for three districts (Wayanad district, Attapadi taluk in Palakkad district and parts of Idukki district). 47% of this state occupies one of the most distinctive and prominent orographic features of Southern India6. Numerous west-flowing rivers originating from such massifs have influenced high nutrient depositions in flood plains and lowlands, making it extremely fertile and conducive for practicing agriculture. The state also holds a prominent place in the Indian Ocean trade routes. Given all these factors, the region became a popular hotspot for the establishment of human settlements and communities. Consequently, the number of humans inhabiting this place inevitably started to climb. Hence, it is not surprising that even today the population density of Kerala is more or less even and is almost two and a half times (819 person per sq km) the national average (325 persons per sq km)7.
This congregation of settlers naturally led to an exponential extraction of natural resources over the years. More significantly, “development” was the preaching term that headed election campaigns in Kerala from the year of its affiliation (1956) as a state after Independence. To satisfy the basic needs of the growing population, different parties that came into power directed wanton clear-felling for better road access (connectivity) and various other unplanned developmental projects including dam-building for irrigation and producing electricity. As the flood plains threatened to reach its estimated carrying capacity, different colonization schemes were introduced with the end goal of encouraging the migration of cultivators to less populated and highland regions of Kerala. Rampant forest degradation from then still continues to date. However, the original promise of “development” to fulfill basic needs has transitioned into that of satisfying one’s greed in the form of various destructive practices such as quarrying and uncontrolled tourism.
What this in reality amounts to is a future that is very insecure for the inhabitants of Kerala. The higher slopes of Kerala have been denuded and degraded owing to clear felling, monoculture plantations, quarrying, tourism development, and so on, making it vulnerable to landslides especially during these years of unpredictable cloudbursts. On the other hand, the low lying flood plains have become more prone to flooding due to unplanned and destructive developmental projects. For instance, even the basic facility of access like roads could compound to flooding in the context of this State. According to an article, Kerala stands out with the highest density of total roads (5.5 km of road /sq.km)8. Known for its rich flood plains, it isn’t hard to believe the recent flooding events. However, they could have been avoided or at least the extent of damage caused could have been mitigated if these projects would have ensured uninterrupted water flow which they don’t. The mere population density of the state in itself makes it a behemoth task for resettling people during crises such as landslides and flooding. Accompanied by the COVID-19 situation and all other upcoming predicted pandemics, it would be a monumental task border-lining on impossibility for the State to curb such mishaps in the future. Therefore, from a global perspective, Kerala is standing out as one of the most vulnerable regions that would helplessly succumb to the future natural disasters.
Furthermore, this scenario poses a threat to the functioning of the very democratic system on the basis of which our country runs. Unless the majority of the nation feels the need to urge for such remodeling of unplanned and unsustainable developmental ideologies, all efforts would in the end be rendered futile. Ironically, the favouring of majoritarian views of relentless and reckless economic development that currently provides the ruling government, irrespective of which party forms it, with its power will inevitably become the very thing that leads to their downfall. A typical case of excess of anything is bad. It is a well-accepted reality that the marginalized and the minority would be more susceptible to any of the above-iterated disasters. But, if these issues are left unattended until a time when the privileged and those in majority deem it fit to start taking notice, it would certainly be too late for any recovery for the entire nation and the nature of losses would be unimaginable.
Therefore, it is extremely crucial to take a step back and redefine what ‘development’ is and push for building a future in consideration of environmental stability, if for nothing else the selfish motive of our own survival.
References:
1. Roka, K. Anthropocene and Climate Change. in Climate Action (eds. Leal Filho, W., Azul, A. M., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P. G. & Wall, T.) 1–13 (Springer International Publishing, 2019). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71063-1_26-1.
2. Barnosky, A. D. et al. Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived? Nature 471, 51–57 (2011).
3. Steffen, W. et al. The Anthropocene: From Global Change to Planetary Stewardship. AMBIO 40, 739–761 (2011).
4. Gunnell, Y. Relief and climate in South Asia: the influence of the western ghats on the current climate pattern of peninsular India. International Journal of Climatology 17, 1169–1182 (1997).
5. Ramesh, J. Indira Gandhi: A Life in Nature. (S&S India, 2018).
6. Kuriakose, S. L., Sankar, G. & Muraleedharan, C. History of landslide susceptibility and a chorology of landslide-prone areas in the Western Ghats of Kerala, India. Environ Geol 57, 1553–1568 (2009).
7. Population Density (Per Sq. Km.) | NITI Aayog, (National Institution for Transforming India), Government of India. https://www.niti.gov.in/ni…/content/population-density-sq-km.
8. Kambampati, S. State Roads of India in 4 Charts | NewsPie. https://newspie.in/en/250-state-roads-india-4-charts
