Wayanad Landslide
Wayanad: Landslide due to heavy rains in Wayanad, Kerala has caused massive loss of life and property. About 150 people have lost their lives. The search for people in the debris is still going on. After the landslide incident, Madhav Gadgil panel report is being discussed once again. It is believed that if the governments had accepted the report of the Gadgil Committee, such a huge loss in Wayanad could have been avoided.
What is the Gadgil Committee, when was it formed?
In its report, the Gadgil panel had described the Western Ghats as extremely sensitive and had expressed the fear of a terrible tragedy here. But the governments did not take the Gadgil panel’s report seriously. Ecologist Madhav Gadgil was the chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel. It was constituted by the Government of India in the year 2010 through an executive order. It was named the Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP). It was entrusted with the task of rejuvenating, preserving and protecting the Western Ghats by consulting with all the concerned parties. It was also entrusted with the task of suggesting modalities regarding the formation of an Ecology Authority.
Recommendations of the Gadgil Committee
The Gadgil Committee had described the Western Ghats hill range as an ecologically sensitive area. The committee had recommended a ban on mining in sensitive areas. It recommended a complete end to mining in ecologically sensitive areas in five years, abolition of all chemical pesticides in eight years, and a phase-out of plastic bags from the area in the next three years.
The Gadgil Committee divided 142 taluks bordering the Western Ghats into category 1, 2 and 3 ecologically sensitive zones. No new construction related to dams, railway projects, major road projects, hill stations or special economic zones would be carried out in Eco-sensitive Zones 1 and 2. No land in Eco-sensitive Zones 1 and 2 should be converted from forest to non-forest use and from public to private ownership. It also recommended that the Western Ghats Ecology Authority (WGEA) would be a statutory body established under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.
Warning was also given regarding Meppadi
This report also warned about the damage being done to the environment in Meppadi. The panel had said that due to indiscriminate mining and construction work in Meppadi, a big landslide can happen anytime, which can destroy many villages. The Gadgil Committee had identified a total of 18 ecologically sensitive areas. Meppadi was also among them. This entire area has been destroyed in a landslide on Tuesday. By not implementing the report of the Madhav Gadgil Committee, the Central Government rejected it and formed a new committee. This committee reduced the boundary of ecologically sensitive areas in the Western Ghats by about 37 percent.
Actually, these areas were used for tea plantations during the British period. After this, gradually large-scale development took place here with the construction of resorts and artificial lakes. Not only this, the soil in these areas also got weakened due to mines.
Wayanad Landslide
Landslides caused by rising temperatures in the Arabian Sea: Climate scientist
Rising temperatures in the Arabian Sea are leading to the formation of dense clouds, which is causing heavy rains in a short period of time in Kerala and increasing the risk of landslides, a senior climate scientist claimed. Meanwhile, scientists and experts called for landslide forecasting mechanisms and construction of safe residential units for the at-risk population. S. Abhilash, director of the Centre for Advanced Atmospheric Radar Research at the Cochin Institute of Science and Technology (CUSAT), said that due to an active monsoon offshore low pressure area, heavy rainfall is occurring in Kasargod, Kannur, Wayanad, Calicut and Malappuram districts, due to which the entire Konkan region is being affected for the last two weeks.
soil loosened by rain
He said the soil became friable after two weeks of rain. Abhilash said a deep ‘mesoscale’ cloud system formed off the coast in the Arabian Sea on Monday and this led to extremely heavy rains in Wayanad, Calicut, Malappuram and Kannur and then landslides. Abhilash said, “The clouds were very dense, just like the ones seen during the Kerala floods in 2019.” He said scientists have received information about the formation of very dense clouds over the south-east Arabian Sea. He said sometimes these systems enter the land area, as happened in 2019.
Atmospheric instability is linked to climate change
Abhilash said, “Our research revealed that the temperature in the southeast Arabian Sea is rising, due to which the atmosphere over this region, including Kerala, has become thermodynamically unstable.” The scientist said, “This atmospheric instability, which helps in the formation of dense clouds, is linked to climate change. Earlier, such rainfall used to usually occur in the northern Konkan region, northern Mangaluru.” The research of Abhilash and other scientists, published in the journal ‘NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science’ in the year 2022, states that rainfall on the west coast of India is becoming more “convective”. Convective rainfall occurs when warm, moist air rises in the atmosphere. The pressure decreases as the altitude increases, causing the temperature to drop. According to the Meteorological Department, rainfall between 19 cm and 35 cm was recorded at several automatic weather stations in Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, Malappuram and Ernakulam districts.
Wayanad Landslide
A separate system is needed to forecast landslides
“Most of the IMD’s automated weather stations in the region recorded more than 24 cm of rain in 24 hours. Some rain gauges installed by farmers recorded more than 30 cm of rain,” Abhilash said. Meanwhile, scientists and experts on Tuesday called for landslide forecasting mechanisms and construction of safe residential units for vulnerable populations. Madhavan Rajeevan, former secretary in the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, said weather agencies can predict extremely heavy rainfall but cannot say anything with certainty about landslides. “Heavy rainfall does not always lead to landslides. We need a separate system to forecast landslides. It is difficult but possible,” Rajeevan said.
More than 120 mm of rain is enough to cause landslides
“The conditions that cause landslides, including soil composition, soil moisture and slope, are known and it is important to develop a system from all this information. Unfortunately, we have not done it yet,” he said. “When a river is in spate, we move people to safer places. We can do the same thing when there is heavy and continuous rain. We have the scientific know-how. We just need to convert it into a system,” Rajeevan said. Srikumar, a disaster risk management expert at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration, said more than 120 mm of rain for two to three days is enough to cause landslides in the hilly areas of the southern coastal state.
Many landslide prone areas in Wayanad
Srikumar said, “There are many landslide prone areas in Wayanad. The only thing we can do is to move people to safer areas. The authorities should build monsoon-proof housing for people living in such areas.” Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, said that about half of Kerala has hills and mountainous areas where the slope is more than 20 degrees, making these places prone to landslides when there is heavy rain. He said, “Landslide prone areas have been mapped in Kerala. Panchayats located in dangerous areas should be marked and people living there should be made aware. We need to monitor rainfall data in these areas and set up an early warning system by keeping an eye on dangerous areas.” (Input-Bhasha)
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