Wayanad and the Development Paradigm: Tragedy of Our Time | Muzaffar Assadi

The catastrophe of the Wayanad incident is not just related to the flash flood or the intense rain that the area experienced; rather, it is the tragedy of a development paradigm that the State has implemented over time. Waynad, once dominated by the tribal people, has undergone a capitalist transition, the commodification of environmentally sensitive places, and unrestricted resource exploitation are just a few of the factors that have made Waynad one of the best examples of human-caused catastrophes in recent times. Incidentally, Wayanad is a larger part of the Western Ghat region, which is often known as the "Hottest hotspot," the "Hub of Biodiversity," and the "Eco-Sensitive Areas" by UNESCO and other agencies. None of the recommendations made in the two significant reports, Gadgil and Kasturiangan, have been implemented despite the best possible solutions. Politics and the capitalist model have prevailed over human life.

In addition to being one of the 34 Global Hotspots of Biodiversity, the Western Ghat is renowned for its tropical ecosystem, rich in flora, wildlife, ethnic diversity, and terrain. It is also renowned for its delicate eco-system. The Ghats are rich in both culture and ecology. Approximately 1600 of the at least 4050 flowering plants that have been found there are indigenous. The Western Ghat region, incidentally, is divided into 32 parliamentary constituencies.

The last few years have witnessed an "onslaught of development projects" in the Western Ghat and also in Waynad, including the illegal felling of trees, the construction of homestays, the expansion of coffee plantations, the building of roads, railways and river diversion projects, the building of housing complexes and the mushrooming of resorts. According to the seven-year plan document, Western Ghat has reached the status of "High depletion regions" for biological diversity. It is worth noting that Karnataka’s lifeline rivers, the Kaveri and Thungabhadra, originate in this area and are currently gradually drying up. Between 2012 and 2017, the Western Ghat region of Karnataka, which includes the districts of Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu, and Dakshina Kannada, is predicted to have lost 10,000 hectares of forest cover.

Gadgil Committee Report

Amid growing concern about the ecological disasters in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Coorg, Wayanad and other regions, two critical reports by high-level working groups to study the ecological issues of Western Ghats have created a sensation. One Report, bitterly opposed but appreciated by many for its deep concern, is known as the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) or the Madhava Gadgil Committee report. It was constituted in 2011. This Report viewed two simultaneous processes in this Western Ghat region: ‚Development by Exclusion and ‚Conservation by Exclusion. It designated the entire Western Ghats in a graded fashion. It declared it an ecologically sensitive area (ESA). It divided the sensitive areas further into three zones: regions of highest sensitivity, or Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1 (ESZ1); regions of high sensitivity, or ESZ2; and regions of moderate sensitivity, or ESZ3. The report adopted the graded approach to regulating developmental activities depending on the environmental impact that the activity would have. Coincidentally, it designated 134 taluks under the Western Ghat as ESZ , of which 25 are in Kerala, 43 are in Karnataka, and 50 are in Maharastra.In fact it had assigned Vayittiri, Manantavadi, Sultans Battery Taluks in Waynad district as Eco Sensitive Zone 1. It further suggested that there should not be any more construction of new dams in the ESZ 1, and recommended the indefinite moratorium on the environmental clearance for mining in Ecologically Sensitive Zones 1 and 2 including phasing out mining, continuation of existing mining under strict regulation, not allowing the establishment of polluting industries, which include coal-based power plants. It further recommended a decentralized water management plan, reviving traditional water harvesting systems like recharge wells, regulating flows in rivers and reservoirs, protect high altitude valley swamps, declaring “sand holidays†, reviving water bodies and conservation by the industries,eco-restoration by coffee planters, community participation in the flow of river water, shift from monoculture to polyculture, ecological preservation of soil, discontinuing the use of weedicides, insecticides, and fungicide, support to organic farming,agro-bio-diversity conservation, make Western Ghats free from GM crops, create forest corridors, community forestry, revive tribal agriculture, improving the fodder and vegetation resources, cultivation of medicinal plants, scientific basis for forestry and biodiversity management, participatory approach in Joint Forest Management,  social security to forest plantation, introducing eco-friendly species, revisiting the concept of energy equity, encouraging the use of clean energy, pro-active and sympathetic implementation of Forest Rights Act, the establishment of fully empowered Biodiversity Management Committees, promotion of programmes on the pattern of ‘Conservation of biodiversity-rich areas of Udumbanchola taluka’, the revival of the Paryavaran Vahini programme, and institution of a social audit process., and finally, the appointment of Western Ghat Ecology Authority are some of the other issues or recommendation that the committee made. Gadgil committee report had identified. Seventy-five per cent of the area of Western Ghats, or 1.29 lakh hectares, is eco-sensitive.

Kasturirangan Committee Report

Following objections from all six states falling under Western Ghat region, including environmental movements, civil society groups and political parties, the central government constituted one more High-Level Working Group in 2013. K. Kasturirangan, who earlier headed the Indian Space Research Organization, was appointed its chairman. Interestingly, the Kasturingan committee almost endorsed the views expressed in the earlier Gadil committee, except that it reduced the eco-sensitive area from 75 per cent of the Western Ghats region to 37 per cent- from 1.29 lakh sq km to 56,825 sq km. It observed, "Out of the estimated 1,64,280 km2 of the Western Ghats area, the natural landscape constitutes only 41 per cent." Further, it recommended a non-tolerant policy concerning highly damaging activities such as mining or polluting industries; it believed in balancing between a vibrant economy and preserving, conserving and rejuvenating the ecology. It also recommended the appointment of a "Decision Support and Monitoring Centre for Western Ghats". Further, its recommendations include a prohibition on construction and building projects, including township, demanded inclusion of wind energy, involvement and consultation of villages and village communities in preserving wildlife corridors and Eco-Sensitive Areas, issuance of no-objections from Gram Sabhas, payments for ecosystem services, support to organic farming, report recommended payments for ecosystem services.

Nonetheless, its most important contribution came from analysing the effect of climate change on forestry, agriculture, biodiversity, water, irrigation and hydropower. In the latter case, it argued that it would affect irrigation installed power capacity and witness recurring drought and floods — which has become true in the case of Waynad in Kerala and Madikeri in Karnataka in recent years.

Incidentally, the Karnataka and Kerala states did not endorse the findings Karnataka believed that implementing its recommendations would hamper the development and Eco-Sensitive Area would affect 1,576 villages covering 20,668 sq km. In Kerala, the opposition came because the reports were"biased", and its implementation would displace and harm the livelihood of thousands of rural population. Derivatively, both reports have banked on the Gandhian model of alternative development, countering the current path of development. A blend of the two reports however has the potential to make human life much more safe, sustainable and balanced one.Capitalist model, known for accumulation and appropriation, has caused more destruction than ever in contemporary history.

(Author: Muzaffar Assadi, Former Dean, University of Mysore)