Karnataka needs a more lasting solution

Just as the farmers of Karnataka were welcoming the initial showers after a long dry spell, torrential rains in the northern parts of the state, Malnad region and coastal areas have turned their lives into misery. While the life of farmers is dependent on the vagaries of nature, they face a peculiar situation in the state with many areas experiencing both floods and severe drought within the same year. This time rround, their agony is even more pronounced, with Covid-19 adding to their woes. To make matters worse, district administration officers who are already over-stretched having worked without a break for the past four months due to the pandemic now have to deploy the limited resources at their command toward rescue and relief operations.

Unlike the past, the official machinery appears to be well-prepared this time despite the constraints, but the intensity of rains is such that no amount of advance groundwork would have sufficed to meet the challenge. Given that heavy rains and floods are a recurring feature, the government should evolve a plan to permanently relocate low-lying villages to the highlands to prevent loss of life and property year after year. A classic example is that of Bagalkot, where the entire population was shifted to a modern township before it was submerged under the backwaters of Almatti dam. While this would no doubt face the issue of funds as well as people’s resistance to relocating to a new place, it is high time the government thought of this more lasting solution than doling out monetary compensation every year, which only serves a temporary purpose.

Another issue that needs immediate resolution is poor dam management. There has been criticism for long that in the absence of a scientific protocol, engineers do not release water periodically but wait for the dam to fill to the brim and suddenly open the crest gates without adequate warning, leading to flooding and devastation downstream. This also causes swelling of the backwaters of the reservoir and flooding of agricultural lands. In addition, the government should also take steps to protect ecologically fragile districts like Kodagu, where construction activity on hilltops and slopes have been blamed for the massive landslides that have occurred for the third year in a row. While rescue and relief operations are progressing across the state, mainly based on previous experience of the officers concerned, the state government would do well to evolve an updated disaster management policy so that the administration is better geared to handle any natural calamity and minimise the loss.