As the
men and excavators of National Disaster Rapid force (NDRF) work
tirelessly, to look for any survivors buried alive in the
landslide disaster at Malin village,
located on a hill slope of Western Ghat mountains, it is becoming
increasingly clear that this mudslide, instead of being a natural
disaster, is actually a man made one.
Ironically,
the very project, bad execution of which, might prove to be the root
cause of this disaster had won the prestigious United Nations
Development Fund (UNDP) Equator prize for 2012. This project was
taken up in the Ambegaon taluk by a Non-Governmental organization
“Shashwat.”
It all
started in 2007, when an inquiry report titled as “ Starvation,
Malnutrition related deaths in 15 tribal districts of Maharashtra'
was submitted by Mr. Lakshmidhar Mishra, former special rapporteur,
National Human rights commission to the Government. To prevent
starvation and malnutrition, while facilitating soil and water
conservation, Government decided to launch a new scheme know as
“Padkai” (Traditional system of community mutual aid) through
Non Government Organizations. Under this scheme, hill slopes were
leveled off and cultivable plots were created with partitions. In the
Ambegaon Taluk of Pune Distrct, “Shashwat” took up this scheme,
under which terracing on private lands in the upper reaches of the
hilly area around “Dimbhe dam reservoir”was carried out. As a
result, farm lands that produced millet, started producing paddy,
resulting in a food availability to the families involved from 4-5
months to 8-10 months every year. The project also prevented silt
sliding down the hill slopes and getting collected in the dam
reservoir below. All terracing works were carried out through
“Padkai” schemes and were monitored by village youths, trained
for measurement work by Government staff. After the terracing work
was done it was cross checked and certified by the Government staff.
According
to a report from the ministry of tribal development of the Government
of Maharashtra, 53 major works worth 370 Million Rupees were
undertaken under “Padkai” scheme in 2011-12 alone. In the “Malin”
village now buried under mud, “Padkai” scheme was taken up in
2013. The “Padkai” scheme though lauded by experts needed to take
some simple precautions to protect the soil through stone bunding and
by making rills or channels to drain rain water. The soil on hill
slopes is usually held togather by the roots of trees. Unfortunately,
it appears that this simple fact was perhaps ignored and trees were
uprooted to clear the land. This could have loosened the soil and
might have made it prone to landslides.
The
experts now say that land under “Padkai” schemes was not surveyed
adequately and plots were allotted on steep slopes. Proper bunding of
the plots was not done, which might have led to heavy soil erosion.
No nullahs or channels at suitable distances on the hill slopes were
dug to drain away the overflowing rainwater to stem its effect on
soil fertility.
So it
all boils down to usual carelessness of the Government officials in
measuring and levelling the land, carelessly uprooting the trees and
non provision of drain water channels. What is even worst is that all
these works were carried out under a scheme to provide employment
guarantee to the rural folks.
Another
glaring example of how Government agencies have played havoc,
disregarding advice of experts, has also been brought to light. By
calling wind energy as green energy, a project was awarded to an
Indo-German company to erect wind mills in densely forested hill tops
of Western Ghat mountains. The company has indiscriminately cut
trees; official record says 28000 but unofficial record says
300,000, roads were constructed from the base to the hill tops
without giving a thought to possibility of landslides. Dr. Madhav
Gadgil, whose 2011 report on ecology of western Ghats was simply
neglected by the Government, bitterly criticizes the Government
policies
The
'Malin' disaster is a sad aftereffect of the thoughtless bungling of
all environmental concerns, expressed by many. What has been done is
a ready prescription for the disasters to happen. It is never wise to
play with laws of nature. The punishment is always harsh and swift.
It is unfortunate that the people of 'Malin' village had to pay for
grave errors committed by someone else. We can only hope that the
state Government shall realise the gravity of the situation, carry
out immediate surveys and carry out rectification work as soon as
possible to prevent such disasters at least in the future.
2nd
August 2014
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