Kerala Wayanad Landslides

Context

Ecologist Madhav Gadgil, has stated that the disaster in Wayanad is a man-made tragedy, attributing it to the Kerala government’s failure to implement crucial ecological recommendations.

About

• Massive landslides at Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha in Wayanad district buried large areas under debris, ensuing in the death of as a minimum 84 people and leaving many injured.
• Madhav Gadgil, the chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), has highlighted that the panel’s report had labeled the region into three levels of ecological sensitivity, with the areas now struck by the disaster being marked as notably sensitive.
  • However, two years later, the Kasturirangan report had toned down the recommendations.

What is Landslide?

• Landslides are a geological phenomenon that entails the unexpected and rapid motion of a mass of rock, soil, or debris down a slope under the effect of gravity.
• Landslides, generally, arise in regions having characteristics like Steep terrain along with hilly or mountainous regions, Presence of joints and fissures or areas in which surface runoff is directed or land is closely saturated with water.

Causes of Landslides

• Natural Causes: 

• • • Heavy Rainfall: Heavy rainfall is one of the most common triggers of landslides. It increases pore water stress in addition to the burden of soil through making it saturated.
    • Erosion: Clay and flowers present inside the soil or rock act as cohesive factors and help bind debris collectively. By casting off those cohesive factors, erosion makes an area more prone to landslides.
    • Earthquakes: Intense floor shaking due to earthquakes causes instability in rocks and soils, therefore triggering landslides.
    • Volcanic Eruptions: Ash and debris deposited via volcanic eruptions overload slopes while the following seismic activity causes instability. 

• Anthropogenic Causes

• • Deforestation: By maintaining soils in addition to obstructing the glide of falling debris, vegetation cowl performs an important function in stopping landslides in any vicinity. Deforestation takes away this preventive cover and increases vulnerability to landslides.
  • Encroachment in Vulnerable Terrains: Of past due, people were encroaching in landslide-inclined areas along with hilly terrains. This has caused increased creation activities in these regions and extended possibilities of landslides.
  • Uncontrolled Excavation: Unauthorized or poorly deliberate excavation sports, including mining, quarrying, and so on destabilize slopes and increase the chances of landslides.
  • Climate Change: Climate trade due to numerous anthropogenic activities has caused abrupt alterations in precipitation styles and elevated frequency of extreme climate occasions. 

Why is Kerala prone to landslides?

• Kerala is prone to heavy rains and flooding, with an anticipated 14.5 percent of land area visible as vulnerable.
• The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has recognized 1,848 square kilometers, 4.75 percent of the state’s total region, as High Landslide Hazard Zone.
• The State lies in seismic region III which corresponds to Moderate Damage Risk Zone (MSK VII).

Gadgil committee recommendation 

• Ecologically Sensitive Zones: The report encouraged classifying 64 percent of the Western Ghats into Ecologically Sensitive Zones known as ESZ 1, ESZ 2 and ESZ three.
  • It also recommended designating the whole place as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
  • Almost all developmental activities like mining, construction of thermal energy flowers, and dams were to forestall in conjunction with the decommissioning of similar initiatives which have completed their shelf life in ESZ 1. 
  • Bottom-to-top method in governance of the environment, indicating decentralization and more powers to local government. 
• Western Ghats Ecology Authority: Under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, a professional body to control the ecology of the area and to ensure its sustainable development was advocated through the committee.
• Ban on growing single business plants: Crops like tea, coffee, cardamom, rubber, banana and pineapple, which have led to “fragmentation of forest, soil erosion, degradation of river ecosystems and toxic infection of the environment” need to be curtailed.
• Community participation: The panel had urged the Ministry of Environment and Forests to take crucial steps to contain residents, including proactive and sympathetic implementation of the provisions of the Community Forest Resources of the Forest Rights Act.

Measures taken in India

• The Disaster Management Act, of 2005 offers a comprehensive felony and institutional framework for the management of various screw ups consisting of landslides.
• The National Landslide Risk Management Strategy (2019) covers all aspects of landslide disaster chance discount and management, along with danger mapping, monitoring, and early caution structures.
• The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued Guidelines on Landslide Hazard Management (2009) that define the steps that have to be taken to reduce the danger of landslides.
• The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) has been supplying ability building and different help to various national and nation-level disaster control authorities.
• Early Warning system: Efforts were made closer to higher prediction of climate. E.g. Ensemble Prediction System. This will assist expect disasters like landslides.

Source: The Hindu