{"id":53516,"date":"2018-08-25T16:45:03","date_gmt":"2018-08-25T11:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/?p=53516"},"modified":"2018-08-25T16:59:19","modified_gmt":"2018-08-25T11:29:19","slug":"cry-the-beloved-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/cover-story-articles\/focus\/cry-the-beloved-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Cry, the Beloved Country!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Above: An aerial view of the flood-affected regions in Chengannur, Kerala\/Photo: UNI<\/em><\/p>\n

This could well be the plaintive sentiment of the despairing people of God\u2019s Own Country as they battle the aftermath of the worst floods in a century. The warning signs were all there. Were they ignored?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

~By Papia Samajdar<\/strong><\/p>\n

The death, devastation and distress in God\u2019s Own Country have gripped the nation like no other calamity. Kerala, the once bountiful and beautiful land of 44 rivers, has been devastated by the fury of the rains and the onslaught of surging waters from as many as 35 of its 61 dams. The combined effect of the torrential rainfall and water released from its dams led to one of the worst floods India has seen.<\/p>\n

By August 21, the death toll in these floods had risen to 370. A total of 3,274 relief camps had been set up to accommodate and feed some 10,28,000 displaced people. The floods were declared a \u201ccalamity of severe nature\u201d. A preliminary estimate by local authorities shows approximately 82,000 km of local roads washed out, 134 bridges destroyed and 45,000 hectares of farmland submerged. An ASSOCHAM report pegs the economic damage as high as Rs 20,000 crore.<\/p>\n

But this ecological disaster was just waiting to happen, if one goes by reports of various committees. More than 50 percent of the total land area of Kerala lies in the Western Ghats. These Ghats run for about 1,500 km from the mouth of the Tapti river near the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra to the southern tip of Tamil Nadu. This covers six re\u00adgions\u2014Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra and the Dang forests in Gujarat. The region is one of the three biodiversity hotspots in India, the other two being the Indo-Myanmar border region and the Eastern Himalayas.<\/p>\n

Roughly 30 percent of the Western Ghats is under forests (before 2010) and this has a stabilising effect on the climate and rainfall on the western and eastern sides. It has also played a vital role in carbon sequestration and reduction of global warming. However, the Ghats are under serious threat.<\/p>\n

In the last 80 years, there has been a population increase of 1,500 percent in the region of Idukki, Wayanad and the eastern parts of the northern districts of Kerala. This led to large-scale felling of trees to make space for plantations, tou\u00adrism resorts and other related industries. Kerala, in fact, is home to 2.8 percent of India\u2019s population and contri\u00adbutes almost 4 percent to India\u2019s GDP. The main drivers of its economy are construction (13.4 percent) and real estate (15.3 percent). Agricultural activities contribute 12.7 percent.<\/p>\n

\"Cry,<\/a><\/p>\n

Seeing the delicate ecosystem in the Western Ghats, Jairam Ramesh, the then Union environment minister, set up the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel under Professor Madhav Gadgil in 2010. This was done after people associated with the Save the Western Ghats project pointed out threats to the region due to excessive mining, construction, hydro-power and real estate. The panel was tasked with assessment of the region in terms of ecology and biodiversity and to make recommendations to conserve and rejuvenate the region. It was asked to study the impact of population pressures, development activities and climate change on the Ghats. It submitted its report in 2011 to the ministry and the findings were indeed grave.<\/p>\n

The Gadgil panel found that:<\/p>\n