Western Ghats: No lessons learnt from recurring disasters

Who is to blame?

The site of landslide in the Brahmagiri range, Kodagu. DH Photo

The oft-cited maxim of the ecological sensitivity of the Western Ghats, repeated ad nauseam over the past two decades or so, has fallen on deaf ears. The failure to prevent the degradation of forests in the Sahyadris, along with the increasing instances of extreme rainfall over a short period of time — especially over the past three years — has wreaked havoc in this lifeline of South India.

The Karnataka government, which has improved its performance in terms of flood preparedness, relief work and rehabilitation measures, seems to have taken little action to prevent or mitigate future landslide hazards.

Despite the devastation, the government has either proposed or persisted with over 20 linear projects that could damage more than 25,000 hectares of forest in the region. These projects include Yettinahole River Diversion project, Kalasa-Banduri project, Sharavathy pumped storage power plant, Hubballi-Ankola railway line and many road construction and widening projects.

Worse, this year landslides have been reported in 80 locations between Mangaluru and Karwar, where highway construction work has been taken up.

READ: In Kerala, people shift from resistance to adherence

Apart from infrastructure projects, change in land use norms, the lack of a long-term mitigation policy to address deterioration of green spaces and improve forest cover, and relentless expansion of plantations in the Malnad districts are just some aspects contributing to a looming environmental disaster in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.

Several activists, who relentlessly protested against projects in the Western Ghats, have hung up their boots, and lament the futility of their past efforts to ensure legal protection to the ecosystem.

READ: Landslides: Waiting in the wings

There is no dearth of comprehensive reports on the cause of problems in the region and how to address them. In 2011, the report submitted by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, under the chairmanship of Prof Madhav Gadgil, had warned of impending natural disasters unless immediate and sustainable measures were taken to protect the ecosystem. The report sought to designate over 60% of the Western Ghats as highest-priority Ecologically Sensitive Zones.

All the states who are the custodians of the Western Ghats ignored this report. The states couldn't come to a consensus on the subsequent Kasturirangan report even after four draft notifications, with Karnataka repeatedly rejecting the recommendations.

The Gadgil committee report was back in focus last year, as most of the places where the landslides took place were considered ecologically sensitive by the committee.

Now, the state government has set up another panel to study landslides in the region.

The benefit of commissioning a new report is still unclear. However, the government’s actions have made it evident that it is not keen on conserving the Western Ghats; experts say the degradation of forests here will have cascading effects, triggering landslides, choking streams and posing a flood threat for downstream areas, something we are witnessing today.

A scientific paper by Prof T V Ramachandra, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science and others shows that the extent of evergreen forests shrank by 16% in Kodagu between 1973 and 2018, from 40.47% to 24.17%; a loss of around 67,000 hectares of forest land. “The region had 32% of forest cover under interior or intact forests in 1973, whereas in 2018 it covers only 19% in various protected areas,” says the study.

“The expansion or construction of linear alignments would result in irreversible ecological degradation. The recent floods and landslides are certainly a warning to the decision makers of likely implications, with the drastic changes in the land cover eroding the native forest ecosystems. Further interventions will worsen the ecology and hydrology as well as livelihood, with increase in instances of human-induced calamities,” the paper warned. Yet, the state revenue department lifted a ban on the conversion of land use in Kodagu in February this year.

Degradation main cause

While environmental degradation triggering landslides is starkly evident in Kodagu, similar situations persist in all districts bordering Western Ghats - Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Dharwad and Belagavi.

Conservation biologist Keshava H Korse pointed out that major landslides are being reported at core ridges of Western Ghats due to repeated disturbance of vegetation in such areas. “Bhagamandala, where major landslides were reported in the past two years, is one such area which has loose soil,” he said.

The area was classified as a highest-priority ecologically sensitive zone in the Gadgil committee report, where all development projects were expressly forbidden due to the fragility of the ecosystem. Yet, several projects were taken up here.

“The injuries to the Ghats cannot be healed in one go. Just to recover the natural vegetation where landslides have occurred, it will take four years,” Korse said.

Among the alarming incidents during the downpour in the first two weeks of August this year, were the landslides reported just six km from Linganamakki reservoir in Shivamogga district, pointed out Ananth Hegde Ashisara, Chairman of Biodiversity Board. He is heading a 10-member committee set up in February this year, to study the main causes for such landslides and to suggest an action plan to mitigate them.

Some of the places highly prone to landslides include the Kodagu DC office, villages near Jog Falls and settlements situated in the Western Ghats. “Our major challenge is to ensure people relocate from areas which are dangerous. It is a difficult task as people don’t want to move away from their homes or agricultural land,” Ashisara said.

Though reasons for landslides were varied across Malnad districts, he suspected that vegetation loss was one of the key triggers for extensive damages witnessed in Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru.

“Deforestation is high, non-agricultural use of land near the forests are prominent. The ecosystem can rejuvenate by reducing human interference in such regions. The ecosystem will revive on its own; this can be accelerated by planting flora indigenous to the region,” Ashisara said.

G S Sreenivasa Reddy, former chairman of Karnataka Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell and a member of the committee, said that there were observable changes in rainfall patterns that have triggered the crisis. “We will give recommendations on what each department should do to mitigate the problem,” he said.

According to him, the cascading effect of disturbing the Western Ghats will worsen fluctuations in the intensity of rainfall, affecting water security and crop cultivation patterns.

Col (rtd) C P Muthanna, former president of Coorg Wildlife Society, noted that Western Ghats are susceptible to even minute changes. “We are talking with the district administration to discuss measures to prevent such incidents. We are against converting land for commercial use as it causes degradation,” he said. Efforts are also being made to encourage planters to cultivate native trees inside plantations.

Sundar Rao Bantwal, who put an end to his environmental activism after the Yettinahole project was cleared, painted a gloomy picture on how environmental concerns were always sidelined over profits by politicians and contractors. “Despite a strong opposition, large projects are taken up in eco-sensitive zones. Even if we drag the cases to court, it will be of little consequence. Approaching the Green Tribunal too won’t help,” he said, citing the controversial project as an example. The project might fail in 10-15 years and neither those who approved it nor the ones constructed will take responsibility for the disaster, he added.

Ramachandra said despite recurring disasters, as many as 55% people in Kodagu are for ‘development’, while 40% are for conservation measures, with a small minority undecided. “After the last floods, we managed to convince the Deputy Commissioner to impose restrictions against resorts mushrooming in the district, which used to occupy natural courses of water. Recently, the restrictions were lifted after political interference,” he said.

Virajpet MLA K G Bopaiah was of the view that climate change was responsible for the widespread devastation. “Save for the last three years, receiving 20 inches or more rainfall in less than a week is unprecedented,” he said. Disputing that change of land use was the major cause for landslides, he said that landslides were reported where thick forests were present. “Nobody has even considered interfering in such dense forest areas,” he said.

Noting that several areas of the district were susceptible to landslides following heavy rainfall, he said that measures will be taken to address the same.