Amidst rising concerns over the resumption of quarrying on the high ranges in and around Kottayam in Kerala, a latest study on the fatal landslips that struck Koottickal, Kokkayar and Plappally last year attribute these primarily to human interventions and high-intensity rainfall.
The study, carried out by K.S. Sajin Kumar, a member of the Kerala Landslide Expert Committee, and others in association with the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority, calls for a stringent land use policy for such landslip-prone areas. The steep slopes of all the three locations, which are located in the same valley and originally contained natural contiguous forests, are now dominated by human interventions in the form of plantations, highways and settlements.
“All agricultural techniques on the hilly slope affect the lower-order drainage by obstructing it with rubble masonry, redirecting it to a more hazardous slope. These lower-order courses, except in thickly vegetated forest areas, are usually seasonal, and during the monsoon season, the normal flow of water is disturbed by these practices,” pointed out the study.
