Kerala's post-flood reconstruction programme named 'the creation of new Kerala' requires rebuilding of manmade infrastructure.
But restoration of ‘natural infrastructure’ lost due to human interventions is equally pivotal to ensuring Kerala’s future security.
How is Kerala's natural infrastructure at present?
Forest cover - When united Kerala was created in 1957, 36% of it’s land area constituted forests, which was reduced to 12% by 1990.
The Kerala Government's 2016 Economic Survey claimed that it had 19,230 sq.km of forests - around 50% of the total land area.
But out of the above, only 1,523 sq.km is classified as ‘dense’ forests, which is only 3.9% of the State’s land area.
Kerala is an ecologically fragile State where 75% of the land has a gradient of above 20%.
So the loss of dense forest cover of this magnitude is an invitation to disaster.
Riverbeds - Excessive sand mining, to feed constructions, has led to reduction in the water absorption/retention capacity of the river beds.
Based on sand audits conducted in 14 major rivers, it is found that sand extraction is up to 85 times in excess of the sand deposition.
River basins - The entire land mass of Kerala is the catchment area or drainage basin of its 44 rivers and their 900 tributaries.
Many tributaries have been done to death and thousands of flood paths consisting of small streams, rivulets, etc., have been levelled for construction.
Wetland - Though not strictly classified as wetland, the once extensive network of 7.6 lakh hectares of paddy fields have played flood plains' role in Kerala.
About 80% of this has been levelled or converted for construction and commercial cultivation, and only 1.9 lakh hectares remain.
After 1980, uncontrolled tourism development has also contributed to this disruption.
How did forest destruction evolve?
Colonialism - Major ecological destruction began in Kerala during the British colonial period, especially after the industrial revolution.
Notably, colonialism was also a period of ‘green imperialism’.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, there have been attempts to clear forests.
Plantations - Forest clearance was in line with establishing commercial plantations of coffee, cinchona and tea.
Thus began the massive destruction of these structures called by the Madhav Gadgil Committee as ‘water towers’ of the Southern-Western Ghats.
In the beginning of the 20th century, rubber arrived in Kerala and spread like a parasite through the low-lying areas of the Western Ghats and the midlands.
Rubber also contributed to forest and biodiversity loss across Kerala, occupying 28% of the cropped area in the State today.
Migration - There was large-scale internal migration from coastal and midland areas to the Western Ghats in Kerala.
Beginning in the first half of the 20th century and lasting till 1980, this also contributed to forest destruction.
This was widespread in the Idukki region of Travancore and Wayanad region of Malabar.
Urbanisation - The state witnessed rapid urbanisation and is today a suburban or ‘rurban’ (rural + urban = rurban) State.
Urbanisation made major demands on resources for construction and infrastructure projects.
Stone quarries - The explosion of stone quarries in the State after 1980 has been phenomenal.
Today, Kerala has over 5,000 quarries, out of which over 2,000 are in the Western Ghats.
Hydro-power - Yet another factor contributing to forest destruction is the over-dependence on hydro-power.
Out of the 58 small and big dams in Kerala, 35 are hydro-electric projects.
Together, they have contributed to destruction of over 350 sq.km of evergreen forests in the reservoir area alone.
Three major rivers have over a dozen dams each, which have altered the riverine ecosystem in many ways.
Besides, in many dams commissioned before 1971, the reservoir capacity has been significantly reduced due to silting.
So in extreme rain events, they are unable to hold water as per their designed capacity.
Kerala desperately needs a River Restoration Authority to rejuvenate the network of 44 rivers and their 900 tributaries, rivulets and countless streams.
In those rivers, a ‘mining holiday’ should be declared till the sandy riverbeds of about 12 feet each is restored in the respective rivers.
Sand obtained by de-silting of the dams could replace the quantity lost during this mining holiday. Pit mining should be totally banned.
‘Bar skimming’, wherein every year only the surface two feet of the sandy riverbed is allowed to be removed manually should be legally mandated.
Currently, mining is done using earth-removing machines and jet pumps.
Restoration of the riverside flood plains lost to encroachment should be taken up.
This should be coupled with establishment of ‘bio-shields’ using local plant species, instead of cement and stone construction on the edges.
Equally important is the protection and preservation of Kerala’s wetlands.
The programme to revive thousands of village ponds should be expanded to cover restoration of inland streams, canals and rivulets lost to human intervention.
Ecological restoration cannot prevent the recurrence of extreme rain events but can certainly ameliorate their impacts considerably.
