Three years ago in December 2015, Chennai received its largest rainfall in a century to flood the city and neighbouring districts that left a trail of destruction.
If Chennai was a trailer, Kerala and Kodagu (Coorg) in Karnataka, are warning signals to the rest of the country that Mother Nature was angry — angry over wanton destruction of nature due to human greed, and could strike at will anywhere in the country. Experts believe this flooding as a cause of climate change induced by destruction of environment and ecology.
For sure, this is a self-made natural disaster that the mankind has inflicted upon itself and Indians have done it more efficiently — the destruction of nature without any regard for the environment. And will have to pay the price.
Kerala and Kodagu floods were predicted a few years ago, but the warnings were thoroughly ignored by the authorities, under political dispensations of different colours.
Experts predict that next in line would be Goa that is also afflicted with all the ills that environmentalists have been complaining about.
In 2011, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, chaired by the internationally renowned ecologist Madhav Gadgil, had warned an ill-thought focus on development was impacting the sustainability of the Western Ghats hill chain, one of the world’s most biodiverse areas that run along the west coast of India.
He urged both Karnataka and Kerala, among others, to adopt a more thoughtful approach to conservation, limiting activities such as quarrying, dams, and construction near protected forests in hilly areas. This report was rejected by central as well as state governments.
In 2015, the Karnataka government had cut down thousands of trees to erect High-tension electric wires through Kodagu. Then there is uncontrolled sand mining in river beds, all across India, rapid urbanisation that were leading to flash floods and landslides during heavy rains. Multi-storey buildings were leading to weakening of soil too.
In Kerala, flooding of Kochi airport is a shining example of poor planning that caused a disaster. Built on the paddy fields and wetlands next to Periyar river, it runs up to the banks of the river on one side.
When a number of dams on the river had to be opened due to heavy showers, the airport was submerged and all operations had to be stopped. The estimated loss of at least 500 crore due to closure.
Kerala has 44 rivers and built 61 dams over them. Many of these dams had to be opened to release excess water that led to heavy flooding.
Never were these dams inspected for pre and post-monsoon safety
The Periyar river is not the only one that has been dammed. The state of Kerala has 44 rivers with a total of 61 dams. Many had to be opened across Kerala as they were dangerously full — a step that, while essential during a time of emergency, contributed to the heavy flooding. None of these dams were subjected to pre and post-monsoon inspections.
Kochi is just one example, even Mumbai airport too is susceptible to flooding and Chennai airport too was flooded.