Unregulated commercial activity and unrestrained tourism activity led to uncontrolled construction and of course illegal mining have brought a manmade disaster in Wayanad. It was mostly a tea plantation area where 62% of the forest cover disappeared between in the last seven decades. Wayanad had 85% of its total area under forest cover in 1950.
The western ecology expert panel had classified the area to be vulnerable and sensitive needing monitoring and protection from commercial activity. But local interest groups were always opposed to the idea of curbing commercial activities. Their greed always inflates the pockets of those in power, as their wishes become public policy. We cannot blame it on incessant rains as international research has shown that South East Arabian sea is getting warmer making the entire belt thermodynamically unstable.
Good governance failed the state of Kerala. It is expected Kerala shall at least now implement in letter and spirit the ecologically sensitive zones notification on Western Ghats.
As the Wayanad landslides snuffed out a town ship with over four hundred lives, the Goa assembly was in session. Unfortunately for the Goa Chief Minister and the Town and Country Planning Minister, at that time luxurious boutique villas with prices over Rupees 50 crores came to be announced on a 30 acre hill facing Mandovi River. The flattening of the hill at Reis Magos was done much earlier but it went viral at the time the calamity at Wayanand happened. As though that was not enough Abinandan Lodha’s five star gated development ‘One Goa’; with plots costing Rs 99 lakhs to Rs 1.9 Cr were also announced. Our CM had to run for cover. He announced Wayanad as an eye opener and informed the house that landslide prone areas should not be touched. Poor fellow, did not have another option!
The disaster at Wayanad was extremely unfortunate but it brought some relief to Goa. The TCP Minister was forced to withdraw a ‘non-obstante’ bill putting approvals by the TCP beyond the scrutiny of the Courts. After converting over 8 lakhs sq mts hill slopes into settlement besides converting 21.9 lakhs sq mts of low lying paddy fields, khazan lands and orchards to settlement areas within 15 months from March 2023, they did not want any challenge before the High Court.
TCP Department all find the High Court an irritant. They did not want even a minor irritant to their rapacious actions against the nature. That such a bill also would not stand the challenge before the courts, was almost a forgone conclusion but in the meantime irreversible damage could have been inflicted on the little pristine area left in this tiny state. The Civil Society and social media pressure at the time of Wayanad landslides was too over-powering for the Goa government and the ruling BJP establishment.
The 7 members provided a vibrant opposition house despite the 33 member strong treasury side. Good job, but no full marks. It cannot be ignored that the TCP Minister who also holds health and forest portfolios came out almost unscathed. He was actually everybody’s darling in the house as MLAs sang praises in the health sector. The conversions and the change of zones is actually a recipe for disaster. But he did not face any grilling on large scale conversions and change of zones or on the forest cover. The tiger reserve issue did not find many echoes even on the International Tiger Day. Despite nature becoming a casualty, he was not put on the mat.
That he agreed to withdraw the controversial bill is only because, the bill was socially and politically unsustainable amidst the tragedy at Wayanad. Wayanad actually rescued Goa at least temporarily.
Mining interests under the guise of livelihood of the locals has been at the heart of the Goa Government’s failure to notify the ‘tiger reserve’ which may have helped Goa in its fight for a better deal in the Mhadei dispute. With the saturation in beach tourism, the rapacious lobby has now set its eyes on the pristine green forest area under the guise of eco-tourism. Wayanad also happened due to over exploitation and unregulated tourism activity. The Western Ghats ESA draft notification for ecologically sensitive area covers 108 villages covering 1461 kilometers of the ecologically sensitive areas of Goa. The Tourism minister only talks of tourism footfalls, the TCP Minister talks of housing, housing for whom? What DLF and Lodha are building is beyond the reach of even rich Goans. What can be built and how much can be built is a matter of governance. Wayanad only exemplifies failure of such governance. There is neither accountability nor integrity when ministers succumb to local pressure groups and business groups and compromise state interest endangering safety of it’s citizens. Sustainable development does not mean only commercially viable matters. Town and Country Planning is not Real-Estate Development and Management.
The lessons of what happened in Uttarkhand in 2013 when over 6000 people died were not learnt and Joshimath happened in 2023 in ecologically fragile areas. If the earlier reports on the Western Ghats were accepted and remedial measures taken, Wayanad tragedy may not have happened.
Though it is too late, the Charles Correia daft regional plan had marked out Eco I and Eco II areas for Goa. The Western Ghats draft notification now covering 1461 sq mts (108 villages) as Western Ghats ecologically sensitive areas. Of course people will be affected and commercial interest groups will try to find cover under the common people. Can the state of Goa standup to avoid a Wayanad type disaster, only future can tell us but if the past is any indication a calamity is not far away.
(The writer is a practicing advocate and a political thinker)