Every year since August 2018, when Kerala received once in a century rainfall, a debate on ‘whether or not floods in Kerala are man-made?’ has become common. The Gadgil Committee Report — about leaving the Western Ghats untouched in certain areas, bringing in conservation efforts in some others and opening only a few for developmental activities — has been put on the back burner by all six states, including Kerala.The tropical forests, the mountain regions and the rain brought because of it makes the Western Ghats one of the 10 “biodiversity hotspots”, meaning, harbouring a diversity of flora and fauna. The once-dense forest all over is now reduced substantially, but whatever remains not just soaks up large quantities of monsoon rainfall but also gives birth to 20-odd main rivers and scores of tributaries that flow both east-wards and west-wards nourishing the earth.The Gadgil Committee had suggested classification according to usage and clearly identified the ecological dangers of allowing infra projects in ecologically sensitive zones. It had also recommended restrictions on mining and quarrying. All six states along the Western Ghats have refused to implement the recommendations in full.Perhaps, the visual of a well-made, pucca house being swallowed by the river in Kerala is proof enough of what can happen if the states continue to neglect warnings, allow encroachment of rivers, forests chopped off or for that matter, mining continues.Speaking about meteorology, as in the case of Uttarakhand, warnings about rainfall were given in Kerala too. Monsoon does not follow IMD’s timetable of June 1 to September 30 and the withdrawal of monsoon is not yet complete. Plus, a low-pressure area on the Arabian Sea is not very unexpected.To a question, ‘If this much rain in October in Kerala is common or not?’ a senior meteorologist from IMD Pune, K.S. Hosalikar curtly said, “It is not uncommon.”Low pressure areas in southeast Arabian Sea moved towards the coast of Kerala and Karnataka. This LPA does result in a lot of rain. And even when it was spread over several districts, it was actually a highly localised rainfall event in central Kerala and not widespread.”There are two different stories for climate change — one at the regional level and the other at the global scale. But what is important is that the experts have warned how climate change will have an unequal impact in a given area. Localised extreme weather events are a cause of worry,” Hosalikar said.Climate change or anthropogenic reasons, fact remains that the extreme weather events are set to rise. No one has disputed that.
Source link
