Man-made tragedies

 

Kerala experienced devastating rain, landslides and flood for the third consecutive year. We lost many human lives apart from houses, animals and crops. Even though we used to get heavy rain fall during monsoon extending from June to September every year, it never caused such a disaster as far as I can remember. So it remains as a question among many, why this much destruction, that too for three years at a stretch. Do we have to face this every year in future?

The answer appears complex. Who is responsible for all these? We are only to blame, the citizens of the state. We can argue that this is happening not only in Kerala. Other states of India also had floods and landslide. When the country as a whole is affected then it is a national issue. We have to examine the reason, research, discuss and solve the issue at the national level.

When these issues are recurring, then the blaming finger will point to our approach to environmental issues. These include management of land, water and air. There is deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil due to human activity. This will lead to environmental degradation, which includes destruction of ecosystems. Environmental degradation is one of the primary causes for emergence of disease outbreaks. We have seen many new and emerging diseases during the last 2 decades and we find it difficult to contain such out breaks. Zoonosis is a consequence of deforestation when wild life increasingly enters the human habitats.

The major causes of the environmental degradation are urbanization, industrialization, population growth and deforestation. The availability and use of natural resources have a bearing on the outcome and the pace of development process. Healthy biological systems are basic for the long term development such as agriculture, business, wild life, fisheries and tourism.

The integrity of these vital natural assets is increasingly compromised and 60 to 70% of our ecosystems are degrading faster than they can recover. This is due to the uncontrolled growth of urbanization and industrialization, expansion and intensification of agriculture and the destruction of natural habitats.  The rapid population growth is a major cause of environmental degradation when it exceeds the thresh hold limits of the support systems. One thing we forget here is that, degraded environment can accelerate poverty because the poor and marginalized depend directly on natural assets. Direct impacts of agricultural development on the environment arise from farming activities which contribute to soil erosion and loss of nutrients. Deforestation is another consequence of increased farming activities. This is directly related to population growth. Deforestation again leads to soil erosion and the ultimate result is landslides and flood.

Biodiversity is important for maintaining balance of the ecosystem in the form of combating pollution, restoring nutrients, protecting water sources and stabilizing climate. The main cause of loss of biodiversity is deforestation, global warming, overpopulation and pollution. In fact human beings have deeply altered the environment, and have modified the territory, exploiting the species directly, for example by fishing and hunting, changing the biogeochemical cycles and transferring species from one area to another.

The Ministry of Environment & Forests in the Government is responsible for protection, conservation and development of environment. The Ministry coordinate the activities through State Governments, Pollution Control Boards and specialized establishments. There is no effective coordination amongst various Ministries or/Institutions regarding environmental protection. Current policies are also fragmented across different states. These differing policy help unlawful activities to take place such as mining, blasting, deforestation and hunting. Environmentally fragile land should be protected from encroachments and unlawful activities to safeguard future generation from flash floods, soil erosion, landslide and loss of life.

In our country, many a time decisions are made on compulsions. There are pressure groups that will influence the administrators, whether it is beaurocrats or politicians. Our environmental laws are being diluted because of these and more and more encroachment and deforestation take place. I remember the decision of the district collector of Wayanad to ban all high-rise constructions in the district. His reasoning was simple. Wayanad being an environmentally fragile land, high rise buildings with its impact due to digging and piling may lead to soil erosion. This decision was immediately over ruled, probably because of pressure from builders. In United Kingdom high rise buildings are permitted only in metropolitan cities. Suburbs and villages can go up to 3 stories only. This is being strictly followed and monitored. Most of the time, when permission is granted for mining, sand blasting or construction, no monitoring is being done and hence minor violation is not brought to the notice. This is also very rampant in our country.

What we need is strict rules that are not sacrificed on any sort of compulsion. There should be very strict and regular monitoring and we should come down heavily on non-compliance. Environmental deterioration and loss of biodiversity will heavily affect the people. This may be in the form of flood, landslides, loss of crops, attack by wild animals or outbreaks of rare and emerging diseases. So it becomes the duty of all citizens to protect our own environment.