Unprecedented floods in Kerala have created such horrifying scenes of death of humans and cattle, damage of properties etc - underlining the helplessness of humans against nature's fury. As I write this article, there are more than 400 deaths of humans and about a 3/4 th million people are displaced, lost their houses and have taken shelter in the the makeshift camps. Media reports have claimed that there were no such destructive floods in Kerala at least in a century.
Humanitarian side of the people across India and from various other countries is on display during the flood situation in Kerala and lot of aid and donations are being made. Armed Forces of India, local fishermen, various social organizations have made commendable efforts in the initial response to the calamity which helped to save many lives.
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| Villages submerged in unprecedented floods in Kerala |
Kerala, which is a comparatively small state in its landmass, inhabits big population making it one of the most densely populated states of India. The very landscape of the state comprises of many small and medium rivers which form the backwaters while meeting the ocean and thereby provide a big opportunity for humans to settle around it due to the prosperity of vegetation it can nourish. No wonder when one travels in Kerala experiences crowds in many places giving it a festive feel. Kerala thus is a land of prosperity. Additionally Kerala is known as the most literate state of India since decades.
The beautiful environment of Kerala is part of the large Western Gahats ecosystem. Western Ghats which range from Gujarat to Kerala comprising the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Goa. Initial reports about the massive flooding in Kerala have suggested that one of the main reasons behind the floods is excessive tampering with the fragile ecosystem of the Western Ghats in Kerala.
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| Beautiful hills of Western Ghats |
Madhav Gadgil, Chairman of the Western Ghat Ecology Experts Panel (WGEEP) has blamed that the tragedy in Kerala is partly man made. He said, “Yes, there is an intense rainfall event which has caused this. But I am quite convinced that the last several years’ developments in the state have materially compromised its ability to deal with events like this and greatly increased the magnitude of the suffering that we are seeing today. Had proper steps been taken, the scale of the disaster would have been nowhere near what it is today,”
The Gadgil Committee had recommended that the whole Western Ghats be declared ecologically sensitive. The committee had strongly recommended a ban on certain new industrial and mining activities in the area, and called for strict regulation of many other “developmental” works in consultation with local communities and gram panchayats.
Interestingly all the six stakeholder states of Western Ghats resisted the report and Rangrajan Committee was appointed in 2013 by the Central Govt which diluted many provisions of the Gadgil report. The Kasturirangan report suggested to bring just 37% of the Western Ghats under the Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) zones — down from the 64% suggested by the Gadgil report.
It was interesting to note that in Kerala, in 2013 politicians of different hues and the Church opposed to the recommendations of these committees. There were widespread agitations organised by them.
After seeing the massive destruction caused by the floods in Kerala, the saner mind will certainly say that had the Gadgil / Kasturirangan reports were accepted by the then state govt, probably the state could have been saved from the loss of lives and property damage.
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| Beautiful Himalayas |
Floods in Kerala have given clarion call to the Himalayan states.
According to the figures from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Govt of India, the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) with geographical coverage of over 5.3. lakh Km2 comprises of the vast mountain range extending over 2500 km in length between the Indus and the Brahmaputra river systems. Many big rivers of India origin in the Himalayan region including Ganga and Yamuna. Scientists have already expressed concern about the incidence of increasing melting of glaciers above the Gomukh region above Gangotri. Increasing footfall in this ecologically sensitive region, deforestation, developmental activities could be the reasons of variations in temperature causing the melting of glaciers.
In 2013 floods in Uttarakhand, more than 5000 people had died. that time also the locals had raised voice against the encroachment being done in the river beds. Prior to the Uttarakhand floods, lot of blasting used to happen in the Himalayan region near Kedarnath for building tunnels for the power projects Memories are still fresh about how the multi storied hotel buildings in Uttarkashi were floating in the flood water.
Incidents of cloud busts, unpredictable rains, dry spells during rainy seasons, have increased in recent years in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh etc. Incidents of land slides also have increased. deforestation for various reasons, construction of roads even in the remote locations have loosened the layers of soil. Dumping of soil - removed during the paving of roads - over the trees has covered large number of trees reducing the forest cover. I call such soil dumplings the wounds of the forests. All these activities have seriously damaged the ecology of Himalayan region.
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| Floods in Uttarakhand in 2013 |
Himalayas are great tourist attraction which brings big numbers of tourists to the Himalayas. Such inflow of tourists has intimidated local population to construct more hotels, restaurants and other facilities etc. These buildings are obviously constructed by cutting the mountains, encroaching on the rivers and streams.
Uttarakhand being the state with many prominent religious places including the Char Dhams, has large numbers of temples and ashrams. Its an unfortunate trend that many of the ashrams are constructed on the leased land from the forest dept, or on the encroached land along the rivers. Many such ashrams are run by foreigners. In the lower Shivalik range or at foothills lot of new space being made cutting trees to accommodate new industries.
These constructions of industries, hotels, ashrams, restaurants are creating huge pressure on the fragile Himalayan ecology. Not only these establishments polluting the rivers with the sewage but are causing anthropogenic emissions leading to climate change.
Its paradoxical that on one hand many Hindu saints in ashrams have committed their life for the cause of Ganga, on the other hand many ashrams are encroaching on Ganga.
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| Making space for industry is damaging to the mountains |
Taking cue from the environmental mishap in Kerala, Governments of the Himalayan states and the Central Government together need to form a comprehensive policy and implementation mechanism on the war footing. All the factors that are responsible for the environmental damage should be identified and the course correction be chalked. if required, the government should not hesitate to put blanket ban on new construction in certain highly sensitive areas.
The global political situation is volatile and the countries are striving to gain control over the new weapon - the Weather Control. Conscious populations which have amicable association with nature would be least vulnerable in this new war strategy. India is lucky to be gifted by the incomparable legacy of Vedic thought which teaches us of respecting rivers, mountains, planets, trees etc and living cohesively with them. We must abide by these vedic principles by imbibing the values in the new generations. Himalayas being the place of preservation Vedic civilization have more responsibility towards the nature.
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| Brhma Kamal - most special flower of Himalayas |
In the wake of floods in Kerala, protection of Himalayas is a paramount task before the populations and their governments. After all its the question of the region that harbours about 8000 species of flowering plants, i.e., nearly 50% of the total flowering plants of India, of over 816 tree species, 675 edibles and nearly 1740 species of medicinal value.
In the times when Weather Wars' are a striking reality, in the times when wars are being fought with weather control to change the demography, destroy enemy groups resources, and in the times where war is given more a chance than peace, protection and preservation of Himalayas and for that matter every resourceful ecosystem in the country and the world becomes matter of imminent attention.
Sadhus know importance of the Himalayas and they consider the whole mountain as 'Shiva' himself and hence they walk barefoot on it. Let the modern lifestyle bring that level of respect to the world's most treasure-some ecosystem.
And the economic development of these regions can carry on by being responsible to nature and not by being greedy and insensitive.
Yogi Arwind
(Koti Vriksha Foundation)
