'I'm not in a mental state to say anything now'; Madhav Gadgil on Wayanad landslides

PUNE: Ecologist Madhav Gadgil has expressed sorrow over the landslides that happened in Wayanad's Chooralmala and Mundakkai. He responded to a media outlet that he was not in the mental state to say anything about the frequent landslides occurring in Kerala.

13 years ago, the Committee headed by Madhav Gadgil had released a report issuing a warning against the uncontrolled construction in the ecosensitive regions in Kerala and other states. This report was widely discussed after various natural disasters struck different parts of Kerala over the recent years. The report submitted to the government in 2011 had specially warned against the anti-environmental activities in Meppadi in Wayanad, where the landslide occurred on Tuesday. As per the report, places such as Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, Noolpuzha and Meppadi are among the environmentally sensitive areas in Wayanad.

However, the then-central government dismissed the Gadgil report and appointed a committee headed by Kasturirangan to prepare another report. In September 2018, Gadgil had pointed out that uncontrolled land encroachment, deforestation and unscientific construction activities are the main causes for the flood disasters in Kerala.

"Strong laws are in place to ensure the conservation of nature and ecological balance. However, the reason for the crisis is that none of these laws are being followed. People should be aware of such things. People should organize against this. The situation where people are afraid to even talk about environmental protection should change. People have the right to intervene in such matters by virtue of the existing three-tier panchayat laws," Madhav Gadgil said.