Kerala Flood 2021 — An environmental case study
Being a coastal state of India and much of the land being part of the fragile Western Ghats, Kerala is very sensitive to climate change and unsustainable developments. Climate change affects the entire globe, but places like Kerala will be the first and the worst affected.
Kerala cannot copy the developments of Western countries. America and other countries have got a large proportion of plain land. Even Tamil Nadu, the neighboring state of Kerala, has enough level lands for their developments. But Kerala is just a strip of coastal area with 35 million people living in the folds of Western Ghats.
Yes, infrastructure developments have become a necessity in this modern world, but it has to be sustainable. In some regions, the consequence of unsustainable activities will be seen only after a long time, while for some regions the impacts are immediate. Therefore, places like Kerala have to consider sustainability more than others.
What led to the Flood?
- Cloudburst
After a few weeks of continuous rain in Kerala, monsoon rains were almost about to end. Most of the water bodies and reservoirs were saturated and the soil’s water-holding capacity was reached. The days were calm, but then spontaneously, a low-pressure system was observed in the east-central Arabian Sea on October 14. Because of this system, Kerala experienced very heavy to extremely heavy rain, with a record of 347 mm of rain in just 24 hours in Kottayam’s Mundakkayam.
No dam was opened, still, there was a sudden rush of water downhill. Experts say that a mini cloudburst, 20 mm of rain in just 3 hours, happened over the border of Kottayam and Idukki districts, causing major landslides in Kottayam’s Koottickal and Idukki’s Kokkayar. It is reported that these clouds are formed due to the rise in temperature levels in the Arabian sea. At present, the temperature level in the sea is recorded at 29 degrees celsius. Usually, it is recorded from 26 to 27 degrees celsius, said MG Manoj, a scientist at Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research (ACARR), CUSAT.
Cloudbursts are extreme amounts of precipitation, of about 10mm rain in an hour, resulting due to the cumulonimbus clouds. Kerala has no record of cloudbursts, but mini cloudbursts are being observed since 2019. Floods in 2018 were due to prolonged rain and the opening of dams, and the flood was gradual. But after 2019, mini cloudbursts have been increasing and causing flash floods and landslides. This phenomenon was also responsible for the 2019 landslides at Kavalappara and Puthumala.
Due to this low-pressure system, heavy rains lashed throughout Kerala, and these rains are predictable by a range of 2–3 days. But within this rain pattern, some regions experience extreme rains in the form of cloudbursts, which is almost unpredictable. This gives no time for preparation.
Very heavy rainfall indicates 200 mm of rain in a day, that could be 200 mm in 24 hours, or sometimes 200 mm in just 1–2 hours. So, even ideally, the rate of draining of floodwater cannot match with the rate of rainfall, thus causing flash floods. And practically, all natural drainage systems are deteriorated by poor land management and construction activities, thus increasing the destruction.
Kerala weather was uniform and predictable will 2018, the year in which nearly 500 people were killed in Kerala when it was ravaged by the worst floods to hit the state in almost a century. Also, Kerala was relatively safe from devastating cyclones. In 100 years from 1908 to 2008, the State was hit by just 18 coastal cyclones of low intensity.
The weather pattern over the Arabian sea and the Bay of Bengal have become very bizarre in recent years, with an increasing number of devastating cyclones. There has been a 52% rise in the frequency of cyclones in the Arabian Sea over two decades. 2019 saw the most intense cyclonic activity in more than 100 years in the Arabian sea. Five cyclones originated in the area. This year,
Warming Arabian Sea turning hotbed for intense cyclones: Study (indianexpress.com)
All these cyclonic activities and cloudbursts are linked to global warming and climate change.
2. Land use
These disasters were caused due to higher economic activities like rock quarrying, construction of new buildings and roads and destruction of natural forest in the highly economic zones, says Madhav Gadgil
It was way back in August 2011 that the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel chaired by Madhav Gadgil had submitted its report. Even after 10 years and the appointment of another committee led by K Kasturirangan, the highly ecologically sensitive region in Kerala continued to be an epi-center of construction activities. No action was taken on these reports after widespread protests.
Gadgil said, “Due to the vested interests of a small group of people, measures that could have helped an entire area were blocked. We had asked to stop economic activities only in a small area of the state, which came under the highly sensitive zones. Not paying attention to that has resulted in the landslides and massive floods in recent years. Some of the encroachments and constructions are relatively recent too. This is an invited disaster. These constructions are not only leading to landslides but also affecting the overall ecosystem and natural resources in Kerala, including rivers.”
Kerala’s dream projects like Vizhinjam Port and K-Rail, are being criticized for their environmental impact. It is destructive to the construction region and also requires other regions to be mined for the construction materials, thus having a double impact.
Exponential damage
On one hand, floods are increasing due to climate change, and on the other side, lands are being deteriorated making it difficult to hold even a normal flood. Thus causing exponential damage.
Solution
As one of the reasons for the recent flash floods is global climate change, which humankind has already accelerated, Kerala alone cannot do anything in that regard. Recent IPCC report is a ‘Code Red for humanity’. This has to be solved by global cooperation.
All development activities ranging from state-owned grand projects to the building of a small house, have to be eco-friendly. A ground-level awareness is important to convince local people about considering the long-term impacts that their regular activities can make. All activities that block or hinder the natural drainage system, like building houses, roads, etc, have to be under the supervision of local authorities.
Natural drainage systems have to be well maintained, and artificial drainage systems in required areas as well.
I am not a weather or environmental expert. This is from my years of observation and research. Do correct me if there are any factual errors, in the comments.
