THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The deluge that devastated the state is a record of sorts on many counts, the prominent being the series of landslides that damaged or destroyed thousands of houses, burying roads and bridges.
Government statistics show that as many as 489 landslides rocked the state during July-August, perhaps the highest ever recorded landslips in a short span of a time in the history of the state. This monsoon, Idukki witnessed the lion’s share with 274 landslides followed by Malappuram and Palakkad with 115 and 65 landslides, respectively, underscoring the need to adopt site-specific rehabilitation measures at vulnerable areas.
Additional Chief Secretary P H Kurian told Express that at present the entire focus of the state government is on rehabilitation of the affected people. Stringent measures, such as amending the building rules in the state, will follow once the relief operations are over. The development model followed by the state down the years is not suitable for the hilly terrains and floodplains. And the state government is mulling over to bring a new building rule suited for the hilly terrains and floodplains, he said.
According to a senior state government officer, a majority of the landslides in Kerala were human-induced, caused by unregulated cutting of hills (carving out land on a slope in order to construct houses and other structures), unscientific construction works, and legal as well as illegal mining.