The advent of man has often been accompanied by ecological disasters and human tragedies from ancient times. So, it is no surprise that the migration of people to the hilly areas of Kerala for agriculture, power development and tourism development lead to disasters such as landslips.  However, human knowledge of economics and sciences including ecology has grown tremendously in the modern age that we should be able to work out solutions to our developmental dilemmas.

The landslips at Kavalappara in Malappuram and Puthumala near Kalpetta in Wayanad district and Pettimudi near Munnar in Idukki district should serve as warnings that preventive and mitigative measures are urgently needed. More than 125 persons had died in these disasters.

It is notable that the above mentioned disasters were associated with plantations. The landslide at Kavalappara had originated from the 350-metre high Muthappan hill. Two streams originating from the hill had been blocked almost completely by land development activities. Digging of the land for planting compounded the situation leading to trapping of water on the hills. This led to weakening of the bond between the clayey soil and rocks, according to scientists from National Centre for Earth Science Studies and Centre for Water Resources Development and Management.

The other two landslips occurred in tea plantations. There also the bonding between the soil and underlying rocks have been weakened upon years of exposure to rain and sunlight.

The Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kollam, had reportedly provided two early warnings to the Kerala Government and Idukki District officials through its Landslide Early Warning System about possible landslides in the Munnar area including Anthoniar colony at Pettimudi. However, these warnings were apparently ignored. In fact, many landslip prone areas of Idukki district had been identified by the Department of Geology of Kerala University and the Centre for Earth Science Studies decades ago. It is time that we increased surveillance and heeded the warnings.

Tea plantations were a colonial enterprise that had never been practiced in the hilly areas of the State before. The plantations were raised mostly on high elevation forests and shola grasslands after cutting and burning the specialised flora growing on those areas.  This had significantly hit the sensitive ecology of these areas.  This was followed by growing of eucalyptus on large scale on the hill-sides for fuel and timber not only by the estates but also by government agencies. Kerala Forest Department had formed a separate grassland afforestation division for planting eucalyptus in Munnar and surrounding areas after formation of the State. Some areas were planted with black wattle and pine for industrial use. Besides, some private parties encroached upon government land and planted eucalyptus.

The shola grasslands of Munnar had a relatively stable topographical structure compared to other high range areas. However, decades of plantation activities and construction of roads and other structures are weakening them, leading to land slips. In the last few decades, resorts have come up even on steep slopes. The government is failing to enforce various laws in the region such as Land Conservancy Act, 1957, Kerala Land Assignment Act, 1960, and Survey and Boundaries Act, 1961, not to speak of protecting the ecology of the high ranges and enforcement of laws such as Forest Conservation Act, 1980, and Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Now, a move is afoot to allot land in Munnar and elsewhere to retiring estate workers. Some land has already been allotted in this regard. The justification being offered for this policy is that the workers are left with no place to live once they retire as plantation workers and leave the estate lanes (layams). However, it is the responsibility of the estate owners and trade unions to ensure that the workers will have provident fund and retirement benefits, enough to meet purchase of new homes and requirements of old age. In fact, the biggest tea company in Munnar is supposed to be owned by workers. The government should enforce necessary laws to ensure financial security of the retiring workers instead of distributing sensitive government land to them.

In fact, the estates are showing signs of turning into ecological disasters. Settlement of people, introduction of new crops and alteration of the landscape should be prevented if more tragedies like that at Pettimudi and Puthumala are to be avoided. In fact, time is running out for several estates, both economically and ecologically. A few estates have already been abandoned, marking a drop of nearly 4000 hectares under tea since the sixties. It is time that the government considered takeover of defunct estates like the one at Bonaccord in Thiruvananthapuram district that lies in a critical high-elevation area. These should then be allowed to revert back to forests.  (Vegetation cover and prevention of soil erosion at Bonaccord is crucial to water supply to Thiruvananthapuram city.)
Settlement of people over a long period in Wayanad district and change in cultivation patterns are causing even a change in local climate in some areas of the district. Agriculture of the type being practiced now may become unviable in the long run. Wayanad is now boosting its economy through tourism and other means. However, there is the danger of tourism activities exceeding the carrying capacity of the district though the situation is not as bad as in Munnar.

The settled hilly areas of Malappuram district is plagued by various human activities that gravely affect the balance of nature.  The major among them are operation of large quarries and construction activities that change the landscape.  Even entire hills are being erased from the landscape through quarrying, and this is not confined to the district.

Environmental organisations have been alleging that the on-going construction of breakwaters for the Vizhinjam port necessitated large scale quarrying. It was also causing sea erosion. However, the facts are slightly at variance with these claims. Though the port would require a large amount of rock, much of the quarrying in the State is taking place for construction of sea walls and buildings including palatial homes.

Of Kerala’s coastline of about 590 km, about 450 km is protected by seawalls, groynes or breakwaters.  Out of this, about 350 km of sea walls were built during the last four decades at a very high cost, leaving very little of the beach. “There are very few natural, stable beaches left while there are 50 breakwaters and around 220 groynes,” Sheela Nair, scientist at the National Centre for Earth Science Studies, told a workshop organised by the Cochin University of Science and Technology last year. The massive works have often been a failure, scientists say.

It is a generally accepted fact that construction of seawalls and breakwaters at one place causes sea erosion elsewhere. So, the sea erosion at Sanghumughom and other areas of Thiruvananthapuram coast is not necessarily on account of construction of Vizhinjam port. Sanghumughom falls in a gap between sea walls on the coast and erosion have occurred there even before the construction of the port started.

This kind of dichotomy between facts and positions of environmentalists is seen in the discourse on environment these days. Some of their positions may not augur well for the development of the State.  Checks and balances are needed for quarrying and sand mining. At the same time, it is equally important to stop extravagant and unnecessary use of rocks, metal and sand.

The power and transport sectors often attracted considerable debate over environment versus development. While opposition to dam at Silent Valley and Pooyankutty have become generally acceptable, the debate over Athirappally is still raging. It has always been the argument that Kerala should go for smaller projects instead of large hydroelectric projects. Hence, a run-of-the river project at Athirappally should have attracted less opposition, especially if appropriate mitigative measures are taken.

If we want the luxury of abandoning Athirappally, people should go for roof-top solar power which is increasingly becoming a viable option. (Scope for solar and wind farms is limited in Kerala.) Solar is renewable source like hydel but has much lesser impact on environment.

Highway projects in Kerala have become controversial more over land acquisition than environmental concerns. As mentioned earlier, roads destabilised slopes of hills. In the plains, road development was often accompanied by filling up of paddy fields and wet lands and even blocking of water courses. However, paddy fields lost to roads is only a fraction of overall loss of wet lands and backwaters over the past half a century. (Area under paddy has declined from 8.75 lakh hectares in 1970-71 to less than 2 lakh hectares). In fact, reclamation of wetlands and backwaters was one of the reasons for flooding in the State. Yet, the State is still not very strict about stopping such processes.

When an express highway was proposed along the length of Kerala, it attracted strong opposition from environmentalists and the project had to be abandoned. It was even argued that the highway would split Kerala’s landscape into two though such things are unheard of from any other country. Now, similar criticism is emerging about the semi high speed railway corridor. However, high speed trains had been operating successfully in several countries. The proposal has a unique advantage that it would be running on solar power. Kerala will need a fast transport system if it is to develop modern industries and find employment to educated youth in the State.

It is generally accepted that chemical industries are not suitable for Kerala and titanium industries has been a cause of pollution and sea erosion in the State. However, Kerala cannot forgo them because of their specific advantages and need for mining and value addition of mineral sands. Hence, the solution is to take mitigative measures such as treatment of the pollutants, prevention of leaks from the factories and refilling of mined areas and growing of causarina trees and mangrove species to prevent erosion.

The tourism industry too is problematic for Kerala. Minimising impact of tourism on environment is required for the sustained operation of the tourism projects themselves. The State has already seen how natural calamities affect tourism.

In fact, Kerala needs to make wise choices on the environment front while keeping its development needs in mind. The dependence of the State’s economy on remittances from abroad needs to be ended by creating employment within the State. However, protection of environment is the key to prosperity and happiness.