KOCHI: The massive landslide at Pettimudi in Munnar, which left 49 people dead and another 20 missing, was the price Kerala was paying for continuous disturbance of zones with highest ecological sensitivity, said ecologist Madhav Gadgil, who headed the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) that designated the entire Western Ghats as Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
“What happened in Pettimudi is similar to the massive landslides that wiped away entire villages in Kavalappara and Puthumala in 2019. I am afraid this was a disaster waiting to happen. Our panel had designated Pettimudi as a region of highest ecological sensitivity (Eco-Sensitive Zone 1),” he told TNIE.
Gadgil said rainfall increases steeply with elevation in Kerala and hence areas included in Eco-Sensitive Zone 1 are susceptible to landslides. Landslides are under check in areas with intact natural vegetation because of the binding of the soil by roots. Any disturbance to natural vegetation renders a locality with high rainfall and steep slopes susceptible to landslides. Such disturbances include construction of buildings and roads, quarrying or mining, replacement of natural vegetation by plantations or levelling of the land using heavy machinery, he said.
“We had strongly recommended to avoid disturbing activities in ESZ 1 areas. If our recommendations were accepted, the intensity of landslides during the past two years would have been much lower. Unfortunately, our recommendation has been ignored and the pace of such disturbances has increased over the past one decade,” said Gadgil. He said Kerala has allowed a large number of rock quarries in the hilly regions. “I don’t know whether there are rock quarries in the vicinity of Pettimudi, but even if they are not close to the landslide site, shock waves from the blasting of rocks in quarries slowly weaken the rocks in the surrounding areas,” said Gadgil.