Experts says alerts ignored
Say development projects began at the cost of environmental destruction
New Delhi, Aug. 21: Top environment experts who predicted devastating floods would hit Kerala state said Tuesday their warnings went unheeded by politicians eager to fast-track money-making projects.
The southern state has been battered by the worst floods in almost a century that have killed more than 410 people since the monsoon started in June.
Kerala is criss-crossed by 44 rivers and famed for its backwaters, a chain of brackish lagoons and lakes that run parallel to the Arabian Sea — creating an environmentally sensitive region with many unique species of plants and animals.
Muralee Thummarukudy, a United Nations disaster response expert, and ecologist Madhav Gadgil, warned in reports back as far as 2011 that a mega-monsoon was inevitable and that the state was ill-prepared.
Critics say Kerala and the national government have ignored environmental concerns as they push power plants and coal mines, hotel resorts and new housing.
Lakes and wetlands that soak up floods have disappeared, and new concrete buildings concentrate excess water in certain areas and make it harder to drain away.
Thummarukudy predicted a flood disaster in Kerala in a 2013 article that called for changes in land use. Thousands of lives were lost in a 1924 flood in the region and Thummarukudy said repeats often come 50 or 100 years later.
“Change in land use planning is always difficult in every country because both private property rights and large amounts of money are involved. So I was not surprised that such changes were not made,” he said.
In recent years, Kerala governments have aggressively promoted the state’s palm tree-lined beaches and plantations to draw tourists, and foreign arrivals doubled in 10 years to hit more than a million in 2017. — AFP