Kerala Landslides - Gadgil Panel Recommendations

What is the issue?

• The repeat of landslides and consequent tragedies in Kerala this year too, after the rainfall, has caused much concern.
• The need for implementing the Gadgil panel’s suggestions is felt more important now than ever before.

What is the realisation with the recent floods?

• The 2018 floods and landslides in Kerala caused huge financial losses and manifold human tragedies. Click here to know more
• It was believed by many that the 2018 tragedy in Kerala marked a once-in-a-century calamity.
• The probability of two such back-to-back events was only 1 in 10,000.
• So, it was hoped that normalcy would return soon and people could return to business as usual.
• Hence, a repeat of intense floods, landslides, financial losses and manifold human tragedies in 2019 too was something people were unprepared for.
• The 2019 events have thus made people realise that it is unwise to continue business as usual.
• This has made them seriously consider the alternatives to deal with the calamities of nature.

What does the Gadgil panel report offer?

• One set of possibilities is provided by the recommendations of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) chaired by Madhav Gadgil.
• The policy prescriptions in the report were well within the framework of the constitutional mandates, and only suggested following the existing laws.
• This relates to environmental protection and devolution of powers, right down to the gram sabha and ward sabha level.
• In all, the WGEEP called for a model of conservation and development compatible with each other.
• The report sought a replacement of the prevailing ‘Develop Recklessly, Conserve Thoughtlessly’ pattern with one of ‘Develop Sustainably, Conserve Thoughtfully.’
• This fine-tuning of development practices to the local context would have required the full involvement of local communities.
• It would have therefore been inappropriate to depend exclusively on government agencies for deciding on and managing Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZs).

What was the recommendation on ESZs then?

• The WGEEP’s mandate asked the state to demarcate areas within the Western Ghats Region that need to be notified as ecologically sensitive.
• It was also asked to recommend for notification of such areas as ecologically sensitive zones under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
• In line with the National Forest Policy, the panel decided to assign 60% of the total area of Western Ghats in Kerala as a zone of highest ecological sensitivity, ‘ESZ1’.
• These included the region housing wildlife sanctuaries and national parks.
• The panel proposed ‘elevation’ and ‘slope’ as two key indicators of sensitivity.
• In Kerala, rainfall increases rapidly with elevation, and high rainfall and steep slopes render localities vulnerable to landslides.
• Hence, areas prone to landslides would come under ESZ1.
• The extent and quality of natural vegetation was the third indicator for classifying an area as ESZ1.
• Landslides are under control in areas with intact natural vegetation because the roots bind the soil.
• Any disturbance to such vegetation would render any locality that has steep slopes and experiences high rainfall susceptible to landslides.
• Such disturbances may include -
  1. quarrying or mining
  2. replacement of natural vegetation by new plantations
  3. leveling of the land using heavy machinery
  4. construction of houses and roads

• Therefore, it was recommended that such activities be avoided in ESZ1 areas.

How successful is Kerala in devolution of powers?

• The Plachimada Panchayat of Kerala cancelled Coca-Cola company’s licence.
• This was because the company polluted and depleted groundwater reserves, drying up wells and adversely impacting agriculture and livelihoods.
• While doing so, the panchayat invoked its constitutional rights, arguing that it had the duty to protect the well-being of its citizens.
• It thus claimed that it had the right to cancel or refuse permission for anything that affected its citizens adversely.
• The company’s counterargument was that the panchayat was subordinate to the State government, which had granted it the licence.
• The Kerala High Court rejected this contention, affirming that grass-roots institutions have the authority to decide on the development course in their own locality.
• Furthermore, the Kerala legislature unanimously passed a law asking Coca-Cola to pay Plachimada Panchayat due compensation for losses inflicted on them.

What is the way forward?

• Democracy is not merely voting once in 5 years; it is the active involvement of citizens in governing the country at all levels, especially at the local level.
• The powers and responsibilities conferred under provisions such as the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, and the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 should be fully utilised.
• The ruling that local bodies have the authority to decide on the development course in their own localities be made operational across the country.
• Implementation of the Gadgil panel recommendations would have definitely helped manage better the heavy rainfall, and reduce the extent and intensity of landslides.
• It is only wise to apply the panel’s recommendations at least now.

Source: The Hindu

Related News: Lessons from Kerala Floods, Dams and Flood Control, Gadgil Panel Report