INDIA GREENS PARTY
(India Greens Party is registered with the Election Commission of India under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act,
Registration Number: 56/476/2018-19/PPS-I, effective from 18/07/2019.)
National Head Office: GreenDhamAnandiChait, IndraBalbhadraParisar, Unchir-Dunktok, SH-31, PO-Ghurdauri, Distt-Pauri
Garhwal, Uttarakhand, INDIA. PIN-246194.
Email: contact@indiagreensparty.org Website: https://indiagreensparty.org
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4 August 2024
The landslide tragedy in Wayanad, Kerala, is unprecedented and the loss of precious human
life is shocking!
We express deep condolences.
The high range and coastal areas of Kerala have become ecological danger zones. The Gadgil
Report had warned about the probability of such disasters. But the Gadgil Report and the later
Kasturirangan reports were ignored. The greens of Kerala have been crying in the wilderness
about it for a long time. Such disasters are the outcome of climate change, and unbridled
meddling and unsustainable development by vested interests degrading ecologically fragile
areas.
The time has come for Malayalees to set aside their political and ideological differences to
address the extreme ecological crisis facing Kerala. The Western Ghats seems to have
become irreversibly degraded and complete ecological restoration seems almost impossible.
Even worse disasters could happen in the future.
The way ahead is to create a master plan for tackling such disasters and minimise the loss of
human life. The high range and coastal areas must be declared as ‘Special Ecological Zones’
with curbs on unsustainable development activities and special relief packages for the
affected people. The authorities must consider implementing a monitoring mechanism in such
disaster-prone regions and proactively shift people to safe relief camps at least during the
monsoon months to ensure safety.
In this context, politicians, NGO activists, and policy makers of Kerala could gain valuable
insights from this book ‘Flood and Fury: Ecological Devastation in the Western Ghats’ by
journalist Viju B.
“The floods that devastated large parts of Kerala in 2018 were not an isolated, freak
phenomenon; rather, they signalled something graver-the ecological devastation of the
Western Ghats. Made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012, the Ghats have become
increasingly vulnerable to serious ecological damage, threatening the sustenance of their
people. The 2018 floods were a wake-up call for the region spanning 1600 kilometres and six
states-Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat-that form an ecosystem
older than the Himalayas.
Travelling in this region, documenting the devastating large-scale mining, quarrying,
deforestation and mismanagement of water resources, at the same time mapping its culture,
history and ecology, Viju B. investigates the crisis in the Western Ghats and suggests policy
measures urgently required to mitigate it.”
(https://www.amazon.in/Flood-Fury-Ecological-Devastation-Western/dp/0143447610/)
Issued by Suresh Nautiyal, Chief Spokesperson, India Greens Party.
Website: www.indiagreensparty.org
Mobile phone: +91-8860072030.
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