kerala-landslides-underscore-western-ghats-preservation

The southern Indian state of Kerala is grappling with the aftermath of the worst landslide in its history. The estimated death toll has surpassed 300, and over 250 people are still missing.

 

Wayanad district, located in the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats and known for its misty mountains and lush landscapes popular with tourists, is dealing with the severity of a disaster that, according to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has “wiped out an entire area.” The Chooralmala-Mundakkai region in Meppadi Panchayat, the hardest hit, falls under the Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1 (ESZ1) identified by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel led by ecologist Madhav Gadgil in 2011. The Gadgil report had warned against anti-environmental activities in the area due to its unique geography and thick forest cover.

 

Chooralmala and Mundakkai are among the remote forest-adjoining areas in Wayanad, inhabited by tea plantation workers and farmers who also run small businesses. While a few houses remain standing in Chooralmala, the landslide did not spare any human construction in Mundakkai, with a couple of people surviving by sheer luck.

 

This is not the first disaster to strike the region. In 2019, a major landslide in Puthumala, just a few kilometres away, claimed 17 lives, damaged property, and rendered the land largely uncultivable. The current landslide has devastated the local economy, destroying land and property.

 

Unusually heavy rainfall, estimated to be around 1830mm over the past 30 days, preceded the disaster. Climate scientists have linked the Wayanad landslides to the heating up of the Arabian Sea, which leads to the formation of deep cloud systems. This phenomenon is a consequence of global warming. The Western Ghats' mountain ranges also block moisture-laden airflow, increasing the likelihood of localised extreme rainfall events in areas like Wayanad.

 

The cost of development

Development aspirations were high in the region due to its proximity to Kalladi, the entrance to the four-lane tunnel road project connecting Bengaluru with Kozhikode.

 

The tunnel, set to become the third-longest in India and built by the Konkan Rail Corporation Limited, has faced criticism from environmental groups for the risks it poses to wildlife and the increased occurrence of floods and landslides.

 

Tourism thrived in the Chooralmala-Mundakkai areas following the “discovery” of “exotic” new locations and the increasing popularity of old favourites such as Soochipara Waterfalls. According to Baby, a local farmer, the number of resorts and homestays has surged in recent years, many situated in picturesque but landslide-prone hilly areas.

 

This trend is similar to the proliferation of new concrete houses over the last decade, primarily funded by remittances from Gulf countries.

 

The combined effect of unplanned development, deforestation, land use changes, and heavy rainfall driven by global warming over a short timespan is the major cause of recurring landslides. Following the latest landslide, over 150 tourists were stranded in multiple resorts as debris blocked all connecting roads.

 

Thousands of landslide survivors have been accommodated in schools around the nearby town of Meppadi. One school teacher volunteering in a relief camp noted that while there was no shortage of food or clothes, thanks to aid from other districts and neighbouring states, there was constant confusion and distress over identifying victims.

 

Survivors search for their loved ones among unidentified and distorted corpses or body parts recovered from the mud or from the Chaliyar river, kilometres away from the Chooralmala-Mundakkai region.

 

Psychological Impact of Climate Disasters

The people of Wayanad are predominantly religious, and performing death rituals according to their respective faiths is an integral part of social life. The landslides have destroyed places of worship for the three major religions—Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam—adding to the trauma of losing loved ones.

 

Research shows that natural disasters have a significant psychological impact on survivors. This realization was immediate at the ministerial level in Kerala following the tragedy.

 

However, Kerala's mental health infrastructure is inadequate for providing long-term psychological support. Even major mental health centres lack the facilities required by the Mental Healthcare Act.

 

Although there is a government-run scheme to appoint a trained psychologist in every school, a shortage of funds has hampered its proper functioning.

 

Climate factors

Extreme rainfall in a short span of time is increasingly common in the Western Ghats' high-risk, landslide-prone regions. For example, Mundakkai recorded an alarming 572mm of rain in just 48 hours before the disaster. The Wayanad disaster has significantly increased the number of people in Kerala who have been forced to leave their homes due to climate change, commonly referred to as climate refugees.

 

A new category of “temporary” climate refugees is emerging, with people living in landslide-prone areas of the Western Ghats often shifting to their relatives’ houses during periods of extreme rainfall. The majority of people in relief camps in Meppadi have no idea where to go or what to do in the future, knowing only that they need to move out of the schools soon so their children can continue their studies.

 

Following the 2019 landslides in Puthumala and Kavalappara, the Kerala government, despite substantial delays, initiated special schemes to relocate and rehabilitate survivors with support from private players.

 

However, if a mega disaster like the one in Wayanad were to unleash thousands of climate refugees, Kerala's already struggling economy would not be able to accommodate them all. Finding suitable land in nearby localities poses another major challenge. In most cases, survivors who depended on the local economy and lived in close-knit neighbourhoods or kinship communities before the disaster are resistant to relocating to distant places.

 

The Chooralmala-Mundakkai landslide underscores the need to conserve the Western Ghats, which span six states in India, highlighting the importance of preserving human lives in the region amid the challenges of climate change. How Kerala, globally acclaimed for its development indicators and widely regarded as a ‘model state,’ addresses climate disasters in the coming years will be crucial for the entire country.