Ignore at your own peril
Multiple landslides in the early hours of July 30, engulfing three villages in Wayanad and killing over 400 people, serve as a chilling reminder of the apathy shown by state governments in failing to prevent the destruction of natural forests. Instead, they have permitted land use changes for development projects like mining, industries, roads, railways, and tea, coffee, and coconut plantations. A disaster of this magnitude from a landslide is unprecedented in the Western Ghats. The 400 mm of rainfall within 24 hours, which brought misery to Gujarat, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh last week, is attributed to global warming and is becoming increasingly frequent and destructive.
The Western Ghats are generally composed of haematite quartzite, which forms a stable soil profile less prone to landslides. However, there are large patches, such as Wayanad, Kodagu, and Sakaleshpur, where the parent earth is clayey and can become unstable after just a few days of incessant rain. Clay soils contain minerals and a negative charge that bonds water molecules. This soil type also has the largest pore area. These properties allow the soil to absorb water, expand in volume, and become saturated. This clay soil mixed with water is often used in foundation drilling to erect pillars essential for metro rails and overhead bridges.
In Wayanad, 572 mm of rainfall over 48 hours caused boulders sitting on clay soil at 1,550 metres above the mean sea level to roll down, carrying clayey mud and uprooted, big trees for 6 to 8 km, ravaging three villages located at 650 metres above the mean sea level. Each ton of debris has generated 9 megajoules of energy, enough to destroy houses and bridges made of reinforced cement concrete (RCC) in villages. Satellite imagery revealed that the landslide ejected debris from 86,200 square metres (8.62 ha) up to an average depth of 5.5 metres, resulting in a total volume of 4.74 lakh cubic metre of debris.
The Wayanad disaster is not an isolated incident. Similar tragedies include the landslides in Malegaon village near Pune in 2014-2015, which buried nearly 100 sleeping villagers under the earth; the flooding and landslides in Kerala and Kodagu in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, causing widespread damage to properties and loss of human lives; and the recent landslide on the National Highway near Ankola that buried moving vehicles and inmates. The 2021 Talacauvery landslides that buried sleeping families are another stark reminder of nature’s warnings. Yet, despite the warnings, successive governments have failed to take action and protect the Western Ghats.
Kodagu, a hilly district in Karnataka, is spread across approximately 4200 sq km. Nearly one-third of it is under agriculture, habitation, and coffee plantations. Of the remaining area, 1,750 sq km are notified forests, while over 1,000 sq km, formerly densely wooded areas, under the control of the revenues department, have been plundered in the guise of coffee expansion. The Karnataka (Preservation) of Trees Act, 1976, regulates the felling of trees in revenue-controlled forests, but revenue and forest officers have colluded with timber merchants to illegally cut trees. This large-scale removal of trees with the support of the bureaucracy was first investigated in 1994 by the then Environment Secretary Yellappa Reddy and reported to the government. Later in 2008–2009, the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court investigated another set of destructions of trees with official connivance. Despite both reports naming the officers, no action was taken against anyone, and the tainted officers, who are guilty, are now enjoying their pensions. Sporadic cases of similar illegal permission and felling of trees have continued for the last four decades. Despite intermittent signals and warnings, successive governments have failed to prevent it.
In 2018-2019, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) of Madikeri, Manjunath, granted permission to cut trees on ‘bane land’ for making way to construct a tourist complex. Before activists obtained a stay from the government, 800 trees were cut. The government has recently closed the case by ordering him to recover a meagre sum of Rs 37,000 from his pension. I am astonished by this low valuation for the ecological security those 800 trees provided. DCF Virajpet Chakrapani was suspended by the government in June 2023 for ordering illegal cutting of trees. In April 2024, a Kerala-based coffee planter illegally cut 375 trees in Mundaramalai enclosure, Mundrod, Kodagu district. Activists allege that five acres of luxuriant forests in Talacauvery Sanctuary have been cleared and not in any private enclosure. They have also alleged that more than twice the trees recorded in the case have been cut. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken up this case suo moto. At present, two persons have locked horns to work as DCF Virajpet, with one of them obtaining a stay from the court against his transfer. If the government continues to post tainted persons in Kodagu, deforestation continues, and ecological security of the region stands worsened.
The National Board for Wildlife for inter-state power transmission from Tamnar (Chhattisgarh) to Goa has granted environmental clearance and diversion of 27 ha of forest land in Bhagwan Mahabir Sanctuary and Mollem National Park in Goa. Further, the project involves diversion of 175 ha of forest land and cutting of 70,000 trees in Karnataka’s Uttar Kannada district. Clearing of the Karnataka portion of the project is only a fait accompali. In fact, the prime minister has already written to the chief minister of Karnataka to expedite the project.
Saravathi Valley pump storage project in Shivamogga district involving diversion of 200 ha of luxuriant forests endangering lion-tailed macaque sanctuary was once rejected by the State Board for Wildlife and has been reopened. Additionally, the project involves an underground tunnel for the flow of water from Talakalale to Gerusoppa reservoir. Further, politicians and rail contractors have not stopped pressing for the Hubballi-Ankola rail project involving diversion of 675 ha of forest land. Among the linear infrastructure projects, the National Highways Authority of India has been moving for tunnels through Shiradi and Agumbe Ghats, both with unstable geology. All these projects are ecological disasters and can compromise the security of the region.
(The writer is a retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force), Karnataka)