Interview/ Madhav Gadgil, Ecologist
ON JULY 31, a few hours after the Wayanad landslides, the Union government reissued a draft notification classifying parts of the Western Ghats in six states, including Kerala, as ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs). This was the sixth draft notification the Centre had released after the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel led by ecologist Madhav Gadgil submitted its report on August 31, 2011. The report was strongly opposed by states like Kerala, which said the recommendations were not in tune with the ground realities.
Gadgil, 82, says the reissued draft notification was “part of the play being acted [to signal that] something will now be done”. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, he criticised politicians for not being committed to the cause of protecting nature and argued for involving local bodies in the decision-making process. Excerpts:
Q/ In recent years, the Western Ghats have seen so many landslides like the one that destroyed the Meppadi region of Wayanad. What are the kind of impacts that we may see in another 10 years?
A/ In the highly sensitive areas, which include Meppadi, there are tea estates [that function as] resorts. And the resorts have made lakes, which are increasing the burden on geological structure. There are quarries within 2km or so above Meppadi. The blasts are making rocks fragile in this highly sensitive area. This is happening in the less sensitive areas also. On the coast, which is not part of what we have called the most sensitive [areas], all mangrove vegetation, which is vital to fisheries, is being destroyed to build high-rises. These things that are happening will mean a variety of different kinds of problems apart from landslides.
Q/ The major suggestions in your report may not be implemented. Still, the government has to do something. What are the measures that need to be taken immediately to avoid Wayanad-like tragedies?
A/ I believe that we have to completely rethink the administrative framework for managing environment. We will have to do an overhaul of the whole system.
To my mind, the models that we will have to try to put in place [could be seen in] Scandinavian countries. In Sweden, where I have been to quite often, wild animals are abundant. The moose are all over and people have permission to shoot them. The number of [shooting] permits are sanctioned by local governments. These local governments are equivalent to our gram panchayats.
Q/ You called the Wayanad landslides a man-made disaster that could have been avoided. But many others say it was continuous rains that caused the landslides.
A/ These are complex phenomena, and certainly all complex phenomena have multiple causations. To think and attribute things to a single cause is simplistic and completely wrong. It is not scientific, and I am a scientist. What I have said is, of course, the trigger was heavy rainfall. But human interventions, which should not have been there, have been going on. And those have seriously contributed to the landslides triggered by the rainfall.
As I said, the quarries, which are all over Kerala and other places, are making the geological structure weak. The hills are becoming more and more fragile. And the heavy rain, of course, further contributed to the landslides…. The governments will say, ‘It is just the rain. We can do nothing about it.’ I do not agree.
Q/ The Kerala government is proceeding with a tunnel project connecting Wayanad with Kozhikode district.
A/ The tunnel will further weaken the fragile hills.