Lessons from the Wayanad tragedy

Who and what is responsible for the heartbreaking landslides that hit Wayanad district and took so many lives? The question is important even as weeks have passed and our attention has shifted to other devastating disasters.

I have explained in previous writings how climate change plays a role in such not so natural disasters but not entirely. This already vulnerable region of the Western Ghats had been made more prone to disasters because of human activities. But then the other question, which frankly haunts me, is: Why do people who live in these fragile regions end up opposing conservation efforts? They know that they are cutting that proverbial tree branch that they are sitting on! So, what can be done? Let's first understand the developmental activities in Wayanad. My colleagues at Down To Earth, Rohini Krishnamurthy and Pulaha Roy, have investigated this and found that this disaster was waiting to happen.

The landslide occurred near Mundakkai, a ward of Vellerimala village. I am pointing this out because this village was identified as an ecologically sensitive area in the 2013 report by the K Kasturirangan committee. I was a member of this committee, set up by the Union environment ministry to come up with an "all-round and holistic approach for sustainable and equitable development" for the Western Ghats. It recommended that all such villages where over 20 per cent of the area was ecologically sensitive should have strict controls on developmental activities that would make the area more vulnerable. This is why it recommended against allowing destructive activities, in particular mining and stone quarries, in these areas.