Much must change in Kerala

Much must change in Kerala

Article

1. Pulapre Balakrishnan Professor of Economics of Ashoka University, talks about the manmade causes of Kerala floods, and suggest measures to bring resilience.

Important Analysis

2. Man Made Causes of floods

• Kerala witnessed widespread deforestation, rampant construction and indiscriminate quarrying which has triggered landslides and also obstructed water channels.
• Large scale sand mining
• Improper land use pattern
• Large scale quarrying for tourism sector
• Ignored the importance of wetlands.
• Alienation of agricultural land
• Constructing large building on flood plain leading to blockage of river stream
• Concretization of river plains

3. Suggestion

• Land use in the State needs review at the level of the State government.
• Public review of the dams in Kerala and how they are operated, focusing in particular on how their operation may have affected the flooding
• Proper flood-proofing effort need to be the part of government’s protocol.