Dams mismanagement,culprit to Kerala disaster
In fact Kerala has less number of huge dams in comparison to many such in the neighboring states but maintenance of the same has now been found to be terrifically unprofessional.The dams management seems to be a great worrisome factor here,feel many concerned citizens.
In spite of more than a month being over after the century's big tragedy in the small state the blame game over the reasons behind still doesn't look to be far from over.An official from the Electricity board claims that the people living on the downstream were alerted much before the actual release of water from the Idukki dam.
But most of the affected people contest the claim and are quite categorical in refuting all such tall claims.The officials started posting warning messages on the Whats up groups late in the evening.By that time there's no power supply and most of the people had retired for the day,complains Chellappan near the Idukki dam site.
MP Veerendra Kumar,CMD of Mathrubhumi group of publications and Member of Parliament(Rajya Sabha) recalls:A similar thing like this had occurred even in 1924.Then Gandhij had sent Rs.1,00,000 for relief operations.By and large the same situation has repeated now.Then nobody asked for drinking water but now post flood havoc people have started craving for water!
He was also immediately reminded about his tenure of 48 hours as the Forest minister in the Kerala government during 1984.Then he had promulgated an order banning felling of trees in the forests and had made it mandatory to grow native variety of trees on both sides of the river banks.
Although he mustered enough courage to come out with such a legislation the Herculean step turned out to be short lived as the sudden pace of swift political developments within the ruling combine ensured his exit from the ministry after assuming office just before two days.
However MP Veerendra Kumar refuses to elaborate the reasons responsible for his exit which needs no clarification as the timber mafia was a big force then in the local politics stretching its arms into the corridors of power.
Coming to the ground reality he opines:The rivers path has been encroached and obstacles have cropped up in the form of illegal constructions.Earlier in spite of heavy rainfall the water used to go up to one feet below as the native forest variety of trees had enough roots spread horizontally to absorb the rain water.
But now in the absence of such mighty forest species the microorganisms below one feet underground vanish while ants and earthworms are bound to be extinct.All the rivers which were overflowing have now become dry while the water level in the open wells has dipped,regrets the media baron.
All such changes are being experienced as the underground water paths have been affected and changed.The average temperature of Calicut(Kochi) is going high while the water level below ground is dipping further,explained MP Veerandra Kumar.
On the other hand Devassy Pulikkal,retired Geography teacher never minces words to proclaim the Kerala catastrophe to be wholly man made:Let there be no doubt to come to the conclusion that it's us who are responsible for this disaster.Heavy rains may be the major factor but the state government ignored warnings in this context by the people.
He also informs:The state electricity board messed up the water management levels in the dams.Although the dams had started filling up and the meteorological department officials had warned of continuous rainfall for some more days the board officials failed to wake up.They started trial run of releasing water from 9 August itself only to ensure that the crest gates were functional.
In several areas water released from the dams remained in dangerous condition for more than a week thus making the lives of people miserable as the flood water accompanied by sewage water started flowing together,lamented Devassy Pulikkal.
There could be any number of theories and logical reasons for the August 2018 disaster in God's own country apart from man's actions against nature.But persistent efforts to unravel the real causes leads you to the crucial task of failure of management of dams in the state,according to experts here and elsewhere.
In fact Kerala has less number of huge dams in comparison to many such in the neighboring states but maintenance of the same has now been found to be terrifically unprofessional.The dams management seems to be a great worrisome factor here,feel many concerned citizens.
In spite of more than a month being over after the century's big tragedy in the small state the blame game over the reasons behind still doesn't look to be far from over.An official from the Electricity board claims that the people living on the downstream were alerted much before the actual release of water from the Idukki dam.
But most of the affected people contest the claim and are quite categorical in refuting all such tall claims.The officials started posting warning messages on the Whats up groups late in the evening.By that time there's no power supply and most of the people had retired for the day,complains Chellappan near the Idukki dam site.
MP Veerendra Kumar,CMD of Mathrubhumi group of publications and Member of Parliament(Rajya Sabha) recalls:A similar thing like this had occurred even in 1924.Then Gandhij had sent Rs.1,00,000 for relief operations.By and large the same situation has repeated now.Then nobody asked for drinking water but now post flood havoc people have started craving for water!
He was also immediately reminded about his tenure of 48 hours as the Forest minister in the Kerala government during 1984.Then he had promulgated an order banning felling of trees in the forests and had made it mandatory to grow native variety of trees on both sides of the river banks.
Although he mustered enough courage to come out with such a legislation the Herculean step turned out to be short lived as the sudden pace of swift political developments within the ruling combine ensured his exit from the ministry after assuming office just before two days.
However MP Veerendra Kumar refuses to elaborate the reasons responsible for his exit which needs no clarification as the timber mafia was a big force then in the local politics stretching its arms into the corridors of power.
Coming to the ground reality he opines:The rivers path has been encroached and obstacles have cropped up in the form of illegal constructions.Earlier in spite of heavy rainfall the water used to go up to one feet below as the native forest variety of trees had enough roots spread horizontally to absorb the rain water.
But now in the absence of such mighty forest species the microorganisms below one feet underground vanish while ants and earthworms are bound to be extinct.All the rivers which were overflowing have now become dry while the water level in the open wells has dipped,regrets the media baron.
All such changes are being experienced as the underground water paths have been affected and changed.The average temperature of Calicut(Kochi) is going high while the water level below ground is dipping further,explained MP Veerandra Kumar.
On the other hand Devassy Pulikkal,retired Geography teacher never minces words to proclaim the Kerala catastrophe to be wholly man made:Let there be no doubt to come to the conclusion that it's us who are responsible for this disaster.Heavy rains may be the major factor but the state government ignored warnings in this context by the people.
He also informs:The state electricity board messed up the water management levels in the dams.Although the dams had started filling up and the meteorological department officials had warned of continuous rainfall for some more days the board officials failed to wake up.They started trial run of releasing water from 9 August itself only to ensure that the crest gates were functional.
In several areas water released from the dams remained in dangerous condition for more than a week thus making the lives of people miserable as the flood water accompanied by sewage water started flowing together,lamented Devassy Pulikkal.
Prof Madhav Gadgil,former professor of the Indian Institute of Sciences(IISC),Bengaluru and renowned environmentalist had warned of serious consequences if human activity,habitation and interference in the form of tourist activities doesn't come to a grinding halt in the Western Ghats region.
The expert committee appointed under his leadership had strongly recommended steps in this regard,both to the Kerala government and the Union government as well.But no change was found possible on the ground as the state thrives on tourism for its revenue mobilization in a very big way.
Prof Madhav Gadgil landed up in Kochi soon after the calamity and again reminded the people about his prior warning through the recommendations of the committee.He also warned repetition of similar catastrophes if the committee recommendations go unimplemented.
But nothing seems to ever change on the ground.Although tourism activities in the Eco sensitive zones have been pin pointed to be the real causes for a big imbalance in the state spread over a narrow mountainous range attempts to revive tourism are back in a big way now.
Wayanad Tourism Organisation(WTO) is making all out efforts to lay a red carpet welcome to the tourists.KR Vanchishwar,president of WTO informs:Though Wayanad was not at all affected by the recent floods there was a dip in tourists influx by 60-70 percent.As a result Wayanad alone has faced a financial loss of around Rs.10-15 crores.
Since tourism is the biggest revenue generating activity for Kerala and Wayanad,we have organized a 'Waynand Calling' rally on 06 October from Bengaluru.The rally will comprise of 40 super bikes and 25 jeeps,he proudly claims.
So all said and done and even after people being made aware of the possible reasons for the havoc in the state there looks to be no reasoning or learning from the past if the present state of affairs are allowed to continue in this fashion.
The state people have carved a niche for themselves in producing the best of films apart from leading the nation in film club culture and literacy.Their contribution as NRIs' back home in the form of investment and enhancement of developmental activities has no parallel.Even their movement to restore the Silent Valley is still considered as a benchmark for many a mass movement.But with all such glorious steps behind,by and large there seems to be no thought that the nature cannot be bartered by earning crores of rupees!
-Manohar Yadavatti
blog handled by Infinity Techsyst Dharwad,Karnataka,India
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