How Kerala govt is contributing to climate-related disasters via its infra
projects
KA Shaji, The News Minute
October 21, 2021
“Rainfall is the natural trigger, but the severity of the outcome is
entirely man-made,” eminent environmentalist Madhav Gadgil had highlighted
in the report by Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), which he had
headed and submitted to the Indian government in 2011. The Gadgil report
had then recommended preserving the frail Western Ghats, which traverse
through states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.
However, the recommendations remain unimplemented, even while massive
landslides and flash floods have turned into an annual phenomenon in Kerala
over the past four years.
Many survivors have found this the new normal, so much so that some have
already started looking for resilient and mitigating measures. For
instance, in Alappuzha’s Kuttanad, several residents have started
constructing houses on substantial concrete pillars to survive the massive
flow of floodwater.
The state government, however, seems to have learnt no lesson from these
annual floods and landslides since 2018, which is still regarded as the
flood of the century. One could argue that extreme weather events propelled
by global climate change might have triggered these episodes of natural
disasters. However, climate experts believe that unscientific and
indiscriminate human interventions in the ecologically sensitive areas of
Kerala are equally critical factors that have aggravated the tragedies,
claiming scores of lives since the 2018 floods. This year’s landslides and
rain-related events since mid-October have claimed 42 lives so far in
Kerala.
Unfortunately, discussions on human interference come up only when
calamities strike. On its part, the state's political leadership across the
spectrum had conveniently neglected early warnings of the unfolding
disasters. The state has remained indifferent even when the rain calendar
changed altogether in recent years. Kerala has even ignored the advice of
environmentalist Madhav Gadgil and various studies that suggested an
alternative development path for the state, which could help address
climate change effectively, apart from protecting life and livelihood.
What is even more worrying is that the state government has been pushing
many controversial infrastructure projects in vulnerable locations without
assessing the human and environmental costs.
Projects that Spell Environmental Disasters
Here are some examples of controversial activities and infrastructure
projects in Kerala’s pipeline that pose a threat to the ecologically
fragile Western Ghats.
Manimala and Erumeli, two villages in the Kottayam district of Kerala,
were inundated in neck-deep water for three days on October 15, 2021. These
villages constitute the proposed new greenfield airport, which is being
promoted as something beneficial to the annual pilgrims to Sabarimala, the
abode of forest god Ayyappa. Despite expert committee reports (the Gadgil
and Kasturirangan reports), the Kerala government has pushed the airport
project in this ecologically fragile portion of the Western Ghats.
This year's tragedies unfolded a few months after the Kerala cabinet
accorded the green light to the SilverLine rail project, a multi-crore semi
high-speed rail corridor between Kasaragod and Thiruvananthapuram. This
project, if it materialises, would be a substantial hydrological disaster
with enormous ecological and social costs. This rail corridor alone
requires 1,383 hectares of land, including large tracts of wetlands, forest
areas, backwater regions, residential areas with a high density of
population, rice fields, and existing building spaces. Its construction
involves large-scale reclamation of wetlands, lakes, low-lying areas and
floodplains, which will prevent the flow of floodwater and adversely affect
its easy discharge.
Similarly, earlier this month, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB)
decided not to go ahead with the controversial Athirapally hydroelectric
power project on the Chalakkudy river basin in Thrissur district, citing
the lack of consensus over its implementation. The residents in the forest
areas said they feared inundation if such a construction were to take
place. However, the state government soon claimed that the project would
not be abandoned just yet and it would do its best to ensure its
implementation. Earlier this week, Chalakudy, the river on which the dam is
proposed, witnessed water levels rising, and subsequent flooding in four
villages and other adjoining areas. In 2019-2020, the government also
lifted a lengthy blanket ban on granite quarrying.
Disregarding the concerns raised by conservationists for many years, the
government is also pushing a 1251-kilometre-long hill highway that will
traverse through some of the highly vulnerable regions of the Western
Ghats. It will pass through 13 of the 14 districts of the state. The road
will start from Nandarappadavu in Kasaragod district and end at Parassala
in Thiruvananthapuram. Although the Rs 3,500 crore project was proposed in
2017, the work was stalled several times. It is expected to begin soon,
despite the damages sustained by the Western Ghats in the latest round of
natural calamities.
Another extensive infrastructure now under active consideration of the
state government is the proposed coastal highway, which would run across a
length of 656 kilometres. Though the devastating cyclones and floods have
relentlessly battered the coastal regions, the state government is firm on
constructing the road that will begin from Poovar in Thiruvananthapuram
district and end at Kunjathoor in Kasaragod.
Another project in the pipeline for the Kerala government is the
proposed tunnel road between Wayanad and Kozhikode, which is the
third-largest in the country. However, this project would also spell an
environmental disaster if implemented. Environmentalists pointed out that
the project could threaten the biodiversity of the Western Ghats region and
the elephant corridors.
Activities Threatening Environment
In April 2020, the state government allegedly gave permission to a private
company to quarry and transport sand from the Pamba river, which is
surrounded by the Western Ghats on the east. However, it was stopped a
month after the work started in June 2020, due to strong public protests.
Sand is integral to the river ecosystem, critical for the continuous flow
of water and for the sustenance of aquatic life. If there is massive
accumulation, rivers have their own instinctive ways of adapting to the
development. However, in this instance, the Kerala government claimed that
it decided to remove it because of the over-depositing of sand and as part
of the disaster management efforts following the 2018 floods.
In central and coastal regions of Kerala, reclamation of wetland regions,
conversion of rice fields and alteration of flood plains are the most
widely visible reasons for flooding. Many areas remain waterlogged for
several weeks when it rains. A prominent example is the Cochin
International Airport, which was constructed years ago by reclaiming
low-lying paddy fields.
A few months after the airport had bagged the prestigious environmental
award, 'Champion of Earth Prize 2018,' conferred by the United Nations, for
its operations based on solar power, the panels installed on reclaimed
wetlands and former paddy fields were submerged in rainwater. The airport
is still facing continuous flood threats. It is located just 400 metres
from the mighty Periyar, the longest river in the state with an enormous
discharge potential. It is not unusual for runways to get flooded and for
airports to remain closed during heavy rains. But what happens at the
Cochin airport is an example of a river attempting to recapture its
floodplains.
According to environmentalist Sreedhar Radhakrishnan, the hilly regions of
Kerala are witnessing extreme weather events because of the higher economic
activities in the region, including rock quarrying, construction of new
buildings and roads and destruction of natural forests. The state has 5,924
active stone quarries and crushers, but only 750 have the mandatory
official permission from the Mining and Geology Department. As per rules,
those functioning without permission are illegal quarries.
Even as per the statistics of the state government, Kerala had witnessed
115 large-scale landslides between 1983 and 2015. Seventy-eight of them
occurred in areas where stone quarries were functioning within a
one-kilometre radius. Typically, quarries are developed by removing the
soil at the surface level. Such a process would affect the natural
absorption of water into the soil, causing mudslides and landslides. In
August 2020, the Kerala Assembly's panel on environmental affairs had
suggested a comprehensive mining policy that strictly adheres to guidelines
issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Supreme Court. In the
place of the existing practice of issuing quarry operation licenses to
individuals, quarries must be brought under strict government control, the
panel said. However, the government is yet to reveal its decision on the
proposal.
In July 2015, the state exempted four villages in Kottayam district —
Poonjar Thekkekara, Theekoy, Koottickal and Melukavu — from ecologically
sensitive areas (ESAs), as classified by the Kasturirangan committee on the
Western Ghats. These villages, which witnessed indiscriminate human
interference in the last four years, had witnessed extreme floods and
landslides in the latest weather events.
Soon after the 2018 floods, the state government announced a Rebuild Kerala
Initiative, which included eco-friendly building strategies, giving more
room for rivers, learning to live with floods etc. However, nothing
significant has happened in that direction so far.
In Vizhinjam, south of capital city Thiruvananthapuram, construction of the
Rs 7,525 crore deepwater multipurpose seaport project, has been
consequentially impacting the marine ecology and livelihood of the
fishermen. The Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL), which is
fully owned by the Kerala government, signed the contract with Adani
Vizhinjam Port Private Limited to carry out the project. Indiscriminate
mining of mineral sands from the Kollam and Alappuzha coasts is another
issue that endangers the state's environmental balance.
Regulate Indiscriminate Activities
In the face of recurring instances of climate-related environmental
disasters, experts say that indiscriminate construction works,
deforestation and excessive quarrying in the Western Ghats region must be
regulated immediately as they would further damage the stability of the
already fragile hilly regions.
It is high time that Kerala acts on its long-awaited but promised
comprehensive land use policy to avoid further fragmentation of its
environmentally sensitive regions. Also, it has to adopt a
climate-resilient construction style apart from a profound rethinking of
the feasibility of infrastructure projects that come with high
environmental and social costs. It needs to protect its wetlands, hills,
lakes, rivers and backwaters for managing future climate events. The
emphasis must be on the environment, water conservation, climate
resilience, sustainable agriculture and judicious use of resources.