Manmade tragedy at Puthumala and Kavalappara

Madhav Gadgil Report should be implemented without any further delay in order to avoid future landslides and human tragedies as occurred at Kavalappara in Nilambur and Puthumalai in Vayanad district. At Puthumalai, a panoramic and idyllic village life has been washed away in no time killing many poor peasants who had been living there in peace and love doing hard toil day and night. At Kavalappara landslide, total 63 persons were buried alive in the soil and frantic search has been still continuing to recover the dead bodies with the help of excavators.

After the bloods in August 2018, if Kerala government had been a little more  vigilant and taken care of the warning given by Madhava Gadgil Report on the fragile,  eco-sensitive landscape of the Western Ghats, this human tragedy at Nilambur and Puthumala in Vayanad would have been averted and saved the precious lives of 40 persons that perished in the landslide.

At Kavalappara, large scale excavation had been carrying out by poachers and real estate mafia using earthmovers (JCB) for rubber plantation in Muthappankunnu. As a result many landslides occurred one by one. Still leaders of certain political parties and even church leaders oppose nail and tooth the implementation of Gadgil Report which says that these areas in Vayanad and Malappuram and Idukki districts are highly eco-sensitive areas where if the soil is upset by cutting down trees and make agriculture, there is every possibility for soil erosion, pipping of soil and large scale landslides would be repeated causing death to flora and fauna.

In Idukki district, a series of landslides destroyed agricultural lands and endangered human and animal life. This is because of unbridled felling of trees and the non- stop functions of innumerable quarries. During the investigation at the landslide spot, it has been found that there had been large scale felling of huge trees, especially very old trees, whose roots are deeply rooted in to the soil, to set up rubber plantation in 1980s.

These huge tree roots decayed gradually creating cavities beneath the earth and it functioned as huge pipes through which soil began to flow down to slopes during heavy rainfall. This phenomenon is called  ‘piping’. This piping phenomenon detached the soil from the rock below and slipping downwards, washing away acres of fertile land soil. More over the recent cardamom cultivation on the hill slops also contributed to the piping phenomenon.

In the year 2013 large scale violence had erupted in the hilly regions of Kozhikode with the blessing of the Church against the implementation of Kasturirangan Report.  There was wide spread violent protests under the leadership of the priests of the Church on Thamarasserry Adivaaram route. Addressing a protest meeting in front of the collectorate, Thamarasserry bishop then warned that another Jallianwala Bagh would take place if the Kasthurirangan Report was implemented. This news was published by English daily (TOI).  Can the church wash off its hands now in the light of the Kavalappara and Puthumala human tragedies?

 For both the church leaders and political leaders, these poor peasants in Malappuram, Vayanad and Idukki are nothing but vote banks and in order to satisfy these farming class who had migrated to  these highly eco-sensitive hillocks for their livelihood these leaders of both the church and the political parties stopped the implementation of the Gadgil/ Kasthurirangan Report.

 It is the urgent duty of the government and NGO organizations to rehabilitate these poor people in proper and safe places where they can earn their livelihood without danger to life.                                                                                  Kjt/-15-08-2019