Kerala should have implemented the Gadgil report

IN THE EARLY hours of July 30, Kerala experienced its most devastating landslide in history.

- NIRMAL JOVIAL

At the time of writing, 167 bodies had been recovered, and the search was on for hundreds of missing people. The worst-hit villages of Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala and Noolpuzha in Wayanad district are part of Meppadi. This area was identified as one of the 18 ecologically sensitive areas in Kerala by a committee led by ecologist Madhav Gadgil in 2011. The report specifically warned against indiscriminate quarrying and construction in Meppadi. However, owing to political reasons, both the state and Central governments were reluctant to implement the report’s recommendations and instead pursued measures to dilute them. That, however, has not stopped either to blame the other. In response to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that Kerala did not respond appropriately to the Centre’s warning, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the Central meteorological department had issued a red alert for Wayanad only after the landslide had taken place and that the Geological Survey of India, on July 29, had issued a green alert for July 30 and 31, indicating a possibility of minor landslides or rock bursts.

In an interview with THE WEEK, V. Ambili, deputy director general at the GSI’s Kerala unit, said that its prediction for the landslide was wrong because of the wrong predicted rainfall data it got from the meteorological department. Excerpts:

Q/ Could you give a brief description of the factors that led to the Wayanad landslide?