Every crisis bares one’s strengths and weaknesses. What one takes away from it will play a crucial role in shaping one’s future. Kerala is going through such a moment, despite the magnitude of the tragedy that struck Wayanad on Tuesday. The landslide left more than 300 people dead; nearly 200 are missing. Nothing much is left in the two villages devastated by the landslips, except mud and slush. Even as the tragedy caught the state unawares, the resilience and the unity of the people shine through.
Central forces and state agencies are acting like a single entity in search and rescue operations. Both experts and ordinary folks are flocking to Wayanad to help the survivors; mothers even from far-flung places are coming with their little ones to breast-feed the babies who have lost their mothers; and commoners are donating beyond their means to the CM’s relief fund. Donations are pouring in from the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, too.
The disaster was triggered by extremely heavy rainfall caused by the warming of the Arabian Sea. Several lives could have been saved if proper early warning system was in place. That the IMD’s red alert came only after the landslide shows the inefficacy of our weather monitoring system. As most agencies—right from the Geological Survey of India, which monitors landslides, to the state disaster management authorities—depend on IMD data, its accuracy is literally a matter of life and death.
Successive state governments, who preferred to look the other way as illegal constructions happened in these vulnerable regions, are also answerable. Despite warnings from experts, unchecked construction and tourism-related activities have continued unabated on a fragile geographic area. Landslide is a natural process and it would happen from time to time. But many lives could have been saved if there were lesser human interventions in these regions.
The tragedy in Wayanad is a warning; not just for Kerala but the entire Western Ghats region. It is a harbinger of things to come if the delicate balance between nature and human activity is not respected. It also reminds us that we need to invest more in technologies that can give proper warning in advance. This underlines the importance of developing decentralised weather monitoring systems in all states susceptible to the vagaries of nature.
Constructing roads and other infrastructure in such regions should be undertaken keeping in mind the environmental impact. That our climate has changed forever is a reality and these extreme calamities are bound to increase. What one can do at best is adapt and realign our priorities accordingly.