Kerala Flood Tragedy Partly Man Made, Madhab Gadgil

As Kerala facing the most tragic flood in the last century, a report on the conservation of Western Ghats calls everyone's attention. According to this report the scale of disaster would have been smaller if the State Government and local authorities followed environmental laws. The head of the Western Ghat Ecology Expert Panel formed by the Ministry of environment and forces, Scientist Madhab Gadgil, said at least a part of the problem in Kerala is 'man made'. He is quite sure and convinced that the last several years development in the state have materially compromised its ability to deal with events like this.

The detail report was submitted in 2011, the Gadgil panel had proposed that the measure of the preservation of the natural environment of the ecologically fragile Western Ghats region. The report had recommended that the entire western ghats, spread over six states including Kerala, ought to be declared ecologically sensitive region. The committee had assigned three levels of ecological sensitivity to the regions inside the Ghats. It also strongly recommended a ban of certain new industrial and mining activities and called for many other developmental works in constructions.

Unfortunately, the report was not properly followed up be the State governments of those Western Ghats allied States. There had also been lack of supervision of the Central Government.
If necessary steps would have been taken, then the intensity of the devastating flood tragedy could have been lesser than what is now.