'Wayanad Is A Man-Made Tragedy'

'It was specifically mentioned in the Gadgil Committee report that this particular area where the colossal landside happened now should be in the Environmentally Sensitive Area under Zone 1.'

'Zone 1 is the most important and ecologically sensitive area, and that it has to be protected entirely.'
'At least 90% of the Wayanad disaster is man-made.'

The Western Ghats or the Sahyadri mountain ranges stretches from Gujarat in the west to Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south.

This mountain range is recognised as one of the world's eight 'hottest hotspots' of biological diversity and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Unfortunately, the entire Western Ghats have been getting exploited in the name of development and the forest cover of the Western Ghats has been getting depleted at a fast rate.

This in turn has affected the climate, agriculture, the general economy of the states and also the very existence of human lives.

The Save Western Ghats Movement was started by various environmental groups that were concerned about this kind of development.

When Jairam Ramesh was minister for environment in the UPA1 government, he agreed to set up a 14 member committee under the chairmanship of Dr Madhav Gadgil to identify and study the most sensitive areas of the Western Ghats, and recommend measures to be taken to save the ghats.

Dr V S Vijayan was a member of this Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel member or the Gadgil Committee that travelled the entire stretch of the Western Ghats and conducted research talking to the locals.

"For people like me, it is very, very, painful to see disasters like these happening when they could have been avoided," Dr Vijayan tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.

As someone who has travelled extensively as part of the Gadgil Committee, do you think what happened in Wayanad is a man-made disaster? Or, is it due to climate change?

Of course, climate change plays an important role in events like the landslide we saw in Wayanad.

But the present landslide in Wayanad is due to the kind of negligence on the part of the central government.

I underline 'central government' because I see many reports of them blaming the government of Kerala. It is not true.

The Gadgil committee was constituted by Jairam Ramesh when he was minister for environment and forests.

When the report was submitted, it was rejected by the central government and they appointed the K Kasturirangan Committee to submit another report. The government of Kerala had no role in any of these things.

My second point is that it was specifically mentioned in the Gadgil Committee report that this particular area where the colossal landside happened now should be in the ESA (Environmentally Sensitive Area) under Zone 1.

Zone 1 is the most important and ecologically sensitive area, and that it has to be protected entirely.

That's why people like me think it is a man-made tragedy. At least 90% of the disaster is man-made. I will not say, 100%.

Yes, climate change has some role.

When you say it is 90% man-made, you mean the mining and other construction activities that were happening there?

I would say, all kinds of the so-called development activities were happening in this particular area.

Quarries were not exactly in this area but 4 tpo 5 kilometres away. But it will not make any difference if quarrying was happening 4 to 5 kilometres away from a very ecologically sensitive area.

What we suggested was the entire area should be protected.

Who should be blamed for this? The people who indulge in such activities or the state/central governments?

100% of the blame goes to the then central government because they are the one who rejected the Gagdil Committee report and appointed the Kasturirangan Committee. The state government has no role in it.

Does the state government have no hand in the tourism related construction activities and also quarrying?

The state government could definitely have a role in the quarrying activities.

Like I said, though it was not happening in the same place, it was practically the same place as 4 to 5 kilometres will not make any difference. So, it comes under the high-risk area.

It is not that the state government has1 no role; it also has a role. It could have prevented both quarrying and the other development activities like tourism.

In the name of tourism, so many buildings have sprung up. It has also contributed to the tragedy.

The sufferers are the people who have been living there for many decades...

Yes, so many people died. So many lost their houses. So many lost their livelihood. But nothing happened to those who exploited the resources of the area.

The rich and the goons who indulge in anti-environment activities in the Western Ghats area are still safe.

Those who get affected are the poor people who live there.

My point is, had the government followed the Gadgil Committee report, this calamity would not have happened.

Whatever you have said in the report, is happening one by one. The way the Western Ghats was being destroyed resulted in the 2018 floods in Kerala.
Why is it that the warnings are falling on deaf ears?

That's because there is a powerful lobby against the Gadgil Committee report. This powerful lobby knew that their activities would be curtailed if the Gadgil Committee recommendations were implemented.

That's why this controversy about 63% and 37% came. What we said was 63% of the Western Ghats should be protected and 37% could be used for development.

They rejected what we said and went for the Kasturirangan committee report which said otherwise; that 37% could be protected and the rest could be used for development activities.

When I interviewed you in 2013, you had said that the Kasturirangan committee report was a disaster for the Western Ghats...

I strongly believe that the report is a disaster for the Western Ghats, even now.

You travelled the entire stretch of the Western Ghats to write the report. Do you think more such disasters will happen?

Yes! There is no doubt about it. Unless the government reverses its own decisions, and accept the recommendations of our report, disasters can happen anywhere along the Western Ghats especially the areas we have mentioned under Zone 1.

The Gadgil Committee was set up after many environmental activists strated this Save the Western Ghats movement.
The report was made public only after an RTI activist challenged it in court.

You are right. It was not made public because the government was scared of the people who were against it.

They didn't want the public to know about what we said in the report.

Is there any way we can save the Western Ghats and that way, many environmental disasters from happening?

Yes. What I still believe is that if the central government accepts our recommendations, we can still save the Western Ghats.

I wrote a letter to Rahul Gandhi yesterday. And today, I am going to write to the Green Tribunal also as it has taken up the entire issue on their own without anyone asking them to.

They are going to come up with their recommendations. So, I have decided to approach them also.

There is no need to do another survey of the Western Ghats as we have done a thorough study.

Do you know the Gadgil Committee had 14 experts who were working in the field unlike many committees which have armchair experts?

Is it too late to save the Western Ghats? The climate pattern of all the southern states has changed drastically, especially that of Kerala...

You cannot say it is too late. It is better than not doing anything.

The Gadgil committee report warned about the 2018 Kerala floods and landslides like these....

I feel totally helpless. Even Madhav Gadgil feels the same way.

What else can we do? Where else can we go? We have been sending petitions after petitions to authorities with warnings.

Soon after the BJP government came to power in 2014, the environment minister came here, shook my hand and promised me that they would implement what the Gadgil Committee report had recommended. But later the entire scenario changed.

When the plan for the Silent Valley hydro-electric project was announced in the 1970s, environmental activists started a Save Silent Valley movement.
And they could save Silent Valley. But the Save the Western Ghats movement failed..

I was with the Kerala Forest Research Institute at that time. I did the first scientific study of Silent Valley and came up with a report.

Naturally, the government was against the report and that was over.

The Save Silent Valley movement started then but it was different.

The difference was that the movement was taken over by people. They could turn things around.

IMAGE: Dr V S Vijayan

Do you feel people should take over the Save the Western Ghats movement as they are the sufferers?

People should have taken over the movement. Unfortunately, there is no movement now. People could do so many things at that time.

You should understand times have changed now. Now, all the decisions are taken by the Government of India.

When they didn't want the Gadgil committee report, another committee was formed, and they came up with a report favourable to the government.

The people's movement also died slowly.

For people like me, it is very, very, painful to see disasters like these happening when they could have been avoided...

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com