MAIN CAUSES OF THE MALAISE

Bauxite Mining

A primary cause for the disturbance that KCS Acharya pointed out is bauxite mining, most commonly found in basalt rocks, and a primary raw material for aluminium.

In 2014, responding to a petition filed by the Narmada Khand Swabhiman Sena, the NGT observed that landscape plans presented for mining licences were not taking into account the impact on the biodiversity and ecology of the region.

Construction

Rampant concrete construction and the explosion of population feeding off diminishing resources. Around Independence, the town was home to just above 200 families. Today it is 1,952 households and 8,416 people. According to the MP Tourism department of the 15.05 crore domestic tourists that made it to the state in 2016, a bulk of them made pilgrimage visits.

Removal of ecosystem

Onkar Goswami was first posted as a young forest officer for ten years in the region in 1982 and again in 2000. In his early stint, he says, he observed that the Narmada were lined with a grass variety known as Moba. Moba is a varietal of coastal grass that is formed out of algae and a type of sea weed that grows in sand and muddy shallow bottoms. It is fertile breeding ground for fish larvae and protects water content of the soil.

Culling of mother species

Locals tell of a town filled with jamun trees ripe with plump fruit, neem, mango, sal, peepal, and palash. None remain now. With the plantation of mono-cultured forests, two impacts have occurred: one is many planted trees have not survived, and secondly, there are no young trees in the forest, most losing out to forest fires. With an ageing forest, and eroding soil, the existing forest is CO2 poor and trees are more liable to topple over.