The meandering roads surrounding hectares of coffee plantations in the hills of Kodagu in the Western Ghats in Karnataka is struggling to overcome the disaster which struck the Karnataka’s smallest but richest district.
The August 17 rain fury which left 21 people dead and thousands homeless has been still haunting this heaven on earth. However the place is full of theories about why this land of coffee has been struck by the devastating rain and landslides as consequences of unmindful of expansion in the name of development. The river Cauvery takes birth here linking two States, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as a perennial source of living of two major cultures.
Even as this place is limping back to normalcy geologists are warning of occurrence of more slides and blames partly this tragedy as a manmade disaster. Talking to The Pioneer Professor H Gangadhar Bhat, a geologist from Mangaluru university who is studying the geological aspects of it by using remote sensing data says this tragedy was bound to happen as people have over exploited land and added to it 700 mm of rain fall with high intensity as main reason.
He said “Soil is saturated along with the deep slopes. We are using remote sensing data and studying this aspects. We have the topographical map of the district and we are doing the map of the area after the destruction. The anthropogenic activities, vehicular movement and natural activities are responsible for this disaster. Percolation tanks, home stays resorts who dug percolation tanks are also responsible. Here Soil is very loose and it will collapse any time. I anticipate more destruction and there is a threat of further destruction. We have to reduce anthropogenic activities”, he added.
He said this is a warning and must take precautionary measures and vacate people in the hills. “There is no link between earth quake and this disaster” , he pointed out.
Many environmentalists and activists say the unmindful of expansion of plantations and overcrowding population has partly led to this disaster. According to Ganesh of Somawarapete the expansion beyond a limit of the plantations is one of the reasons for the landslides which struck this beautiful land. This district has more than 3000 registered and un registered home stays has over crowded this eco sensitive zone affecting the tranquility of the hills. The quarrying , sand mining cutting of huge trees, destruction of reserve forest and encroachment of forest have added to this un mindful of destruction. The activists have started a green movement to save Kodagu the heaven on this earth.
According to Ranjan Appachu a BJP MLA from Somawarpete 2000 kms of road has been destroyed and needs thousands of crores to rehabilitate the displaced population. He says more than 3000 hectares of coffee plantations have been buried in the rain fury.
Kodagu which produces more than 30 percent of the Country’s coffee is devastated and shocked at the destruction. The land slide and the rain fury have left more than 21 dead and thousands homeless. This tine district in Karnataka has a population of 5.6 laks and one of the richest districts in the state. A central team is visiting Kodagu on Monday to asses the damage.
A delegation of ruling party and opposition members led by chief minister HD Kumaraswamy is meeting the Prime Minister to appeal to him for more assistance to this ravaged State. Apart from destruction the district which depends on tourism has suffered a major setback affecting the people.