THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Strong winds are emerging as a major disaster in the state after floods, landslides and extreme heat and rain events. The early onset of the southwest monsoon, marked by 60-70-km-per-hour westerly winds, has left a trail of destruction across the state. The strong winds have led to a surge in weather-related incidents, including uprooted trees and damaged property.
Emergency response teams, including that of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and the Fire and Rescue Services, have been operating round-the-clock to manage the crisis. Fallen trees and power lines have disrupted transportation and electricity supply in many areas, while residential and commercial properties have suffered structural damage. KSEB has suffered a Rs 126-crore loss from rain- and wind-related havoc across the state.
Power Minister K Krishnankutty told TNIE that most of the incidents were because of non-cooperation on the part of the public in trimming branches ahead of the monsoon.
“We have recommended that the chief secretary issue special powers to district collectors to take decisions on fragile trees on private land to avoid similar disasters in the future. The majority of incidents happened because of trees or tree trunks on private premises. People often go to court to prevent authorities from cutting branches or trees.
There are a large number of such cases in courts across the state,” he said. He said the department will study the issue to improve its handling of such cases. The fire department has attended to over 2,500 calls relating to the uprooting of trees between May 24-30 across the state. M Noushad M, director (technical) of the Fire and Rescue Services department said the widespread destruction has been unprecedented.
“These issues can be easily mitigated if a tree is properly managed. There is no dedicated agency under the state government to manage trees and the responsibility falls on respective government departments. Also, there should be some regulations and specifications on erecting hoardings so that the structures can resist winds of up to 40 km per hour,” said Noushad.
The lack of a comprehensive tree-management policy on the part of local self-government institutions (LSGIs), apathy in invoking the Disaster Management Act to address tree-related hazards, and unchecked and haphazard hoardings on highrise buildings and roadsides have worsened the crisis.
K G Thara, former head of the State Institute for Land and Disaster Management Centre, said that soil conservation should be given priority to protect trees against extreme weather events. She said the pruning of trees by local bodies is not happening in the state.
“Trees are toppling because they are not being protected. Trees are becoming fragile and unable to withstand heavy rain and wind because of top soil erosion. The cutting of trees is not at all a solution and we should not forget that trees also help mitigate many disasters. Soil conservation should be given more focus. Instead of disaster response we need to focus on all this to mitigate such disasters,” she said.
Here to stay?
IMD director Neetha K Gopal said that the south westerly wind was strong compared to average surface level wind the state experiences. “Amini Island, which is our first observation point, recorded a wind speed of 80-90 km per hour over the past days. If all the elements driving the monsoon are favourable this might happen again. Last July, we had similar strong winds but the rain was less compared to this year,” said Neetha.