THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: "It is generally accepted among environmental geographers that there is no such thing as a natural disaster," observed distinguished professor of Anthropology and Geography Neil Smith while writing about Hurricane Katrina. It is in fact true in the case of Wayanad if one looks into link between the massive landslide struck Mundakkai and Chooralmala in Wayanad human intervention.
The questions raised by environmentalists about the feasibility of the state government's proposed flagship road project, the Twin Tunnel with four lanes connecting Kozhikode and Wayanad districts is one such best example.
Massive landslides have been reported at Mundakkai since 1984. In 1984 July 3 was the first one. Tribals bore the brunt of it. In 2019 again the landslide struck at Mundukkai and at Kavalappara just one km away from it. In 2020 the calamity hit the place.
However, even after the continuous landslides the distance between the state government's flagship project, the proposed twin tunnel project's entrance and the Mundakkai has only a 2 km aerial distance. Moreoever the proposed entry point is aerial distance wise just one km away from Chembra and Puthumala - where landslides occurred in 2012 and 2019.
Environmentalists have repeatedly given warning to the state government about the feasibility of the project. However, in spite of this, the government decided to move forward with the project connecting Anakkampoyil, Kalladi and Meppadi and nominated Konkan Railway Corporation as a special purpose vehicle. "The construction works would be detrimental for an ecologically fragile Wayanad especially Mundukkai", a senior Forest department official told TNIE.
Even in the Executive Summary report prepared by the Konkan Railway the potential negative impacts of the projects are highlighted. According to the report, the construction phase includes leveling of sites, cleaning of trees along alignment, widening existing roads, construction of culverts and bridges and quarry operations for road work. "There are chances of loss of topsoil due to cleaning of vegetation for new alignment, quarry operation, construction camps and batch mix plants. There are probable contamination of top soil due to handling of muck, unscientific disposal of waste and domestic waste during construction. Due to drilling and blasting the unstable formation encountered in the region can be affected", it said.
Moreover, the revenue officials pointed out how the government machinery sabotaged a recommendation of an expert panel warning about an imminent tragedy. After the 2019 landslide the Wayanad district disaster management authority had asked the state SDMA to conduct a study on the landslide. An expert panel formed by the SDMA in its report had recommended to the government shift 4,000 families from the district that had been living in hill slopes to safe places.
"If the report had been implemented the tragedy could have been avoided", Wayanad Prakriti Samrakshana Samiti president N Badusha told TNIE. " In 2019 alone in the district about a thousand landslides were reported. Of these half had happened on the sides of the newly constructed roads and the back side of newly built resorts for which they had removed soil. The new twin tunnel projects will be disastrous for Wayanad" he said.
It was when Keshavendra Kumar was the district collector, he had closed down many unlawfully run quarries. He also put restrictions on construction of buildings. "At Vythiri panchayat, houses should not be built with more than two stories. At Sultan Batheri, Mananthavady, Kalpetta municipality construction of more than three storied buildings were also put on hold. But all the political parties united to transfer him from Wayanad. If you do not want to continue, take action against the land mafia", Badusha said.