Report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel - Part II : Human Pressure and Ecological Impacts : 2. *Sectoral Recommendations -

Opinion
       11/11/2018
                1534.

SUB : Report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel - Part II : 2. *Sectoral Recommendations -

REF : 2. *Sectoral Recommendations -

2. Sectoral Recommendations :-

The Western Ghats Ecology Panel (WGEEP) recommends a graded or layered approach to regulation and promotion of development activities located in the Ghats depending on the kind of environmental impacts the activity entails and the ecological sensitivity of the Ghat region.

As per the recommendations of the Panel, the Western Ghats has been zoned into :-

(1) Regions of highest sensitivity or Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1 (ESZ1),

(2) Regions of high sensitivity or ESZ2, and the

(3) Regions of moderate sensitivity or ESZ3. In these zones, the Panel recommends that development activity needs to be decided through a participatory process involving the gram sabhas.

However, as a starting point, a broad set of guidelines is provided in Table 6 of Part I of the report. These broad guide-lines for the various sectors are based on extensive consultations with officials, experts, civil society groups and citizens at large. In the sub sections that follow, the key sectors are discussed as they relate to the Western Ghats, the issues of concern are highlighted and measures are suggested for addressing them. The role of the Western Ghats Ecology Authority is also discussed.

2.1 Water use :-

Water resources management in the Western Ghats region is inextricably linked to improving the flows in the rivers and the health of the catchments.

Western Ghats is the origin of many of the important Peninsular Rivers like Cauvery, Krishna and Godavari that drain the Deccan Plateau and flow eastwards. The hundreds of shorter perennial monsoon fed west flowing rivers like Sharavati, Netravathi, Periyar, and the Bharathapuzha travel through steeper and more undulating topography before emptying into the Arabian Sea. A rough estimate reveals that 245 million people in the five Western Ghats states directly depend on these rivers for their diverse water needs. Geographically, the Western Ghats is the catchment for river systems that drain almost 40 % of the land area in India.

The basin area of west flowing shorter rivers is mostly located on the steep western slopes. Except for a few coastal streams 1/3 rd of the basin area of most of the river basins is located within the Western Ghats. This too makes them fragile and calls for their proper care and management. Once these streams leave the Western Ghats proper, they are drained and enriched by the once fertile steep river valleys, midlands and flood plains. The coastal and backwater fisheries is sustained by the rich nutrients and sediments brought down by the flowing rivers. The musings by fisher folk in coastal Kerala: ‘The Sea begins in the mountains’ and ‘fertility of the coast and the plains depends on the wealth from the rivers’, hold significance in this context.

Open dug wells and springs are the other important water resources being extensively used for irrigation and drinking water purposes in the Western Ghats region. In several places, water-harvesting structures dependent on rainwater are also used. In the Sigur plateau, numerous drinking water schemes dependent on the Moyar River are being operated for the tribal and dalit populations. Bore wells have made their entry in the recent past due to intensive irrigation patterns and lowering of water tables. As for Kerala, the groundwater potential is low when compared to other states and shallow dug wells are the most common source of freshwater. However, over the years the groundwater table is lowering at an alarming rate indicative of poor recharging capacity.

On the other hand, water needs for drinking water, energy, irrigation and industrial purposes are growing in the Western Ghats States. More and more water is being diverted even from irrigation dams to meet the thirst of the expanding urban spaces and for industries. We have examples of Siruvani, Kabini, Peechi and Malampuzha reservoirs across the Western Ghats where irrigation water is being diverted for drinking and for the industrial needs of cities in the midlands like Coimbatore, Bangalore and Mysore, Thrissur and Palakkad respectively. New dams are being planned and some of them are in different phases of construction in the Maharashtra Western Ghats to meet the expanding needs of Mumbai and its suburbs. Pinjal, Shai, Gargai, Kalu and Vaitarani dams are recent cases.

Water abstraction through check dams across hill streams is being practiced for decades by tea and coffee plantations in upstream catchments of rivers to meet their drinking and irrigation needs. This has resulted in cutting off the stream flows at their origin itself. Indiscriminate and unplanned tourism is another reason for increasing water abstraction and diversion. The tourism industry in Ooty depends on the reservoirs constructed across the tributaries of the Cauvery in the high mountains since the times of the British.

Studies reveal that east-flowing rivers like Krishna, Cauvery are struggling to reach the seas due to over abstraction of both surface and groundwater. Basins are closing and its impact is felt even on delta fishing, farming livelihoods and ecology. During the 2001–2004 drought years, the discharge from the Krishna to the ocean was almost nil! As for the west-flowing rivers, saline ingress is advancing even into the midlands due to reduced downstream flows. Crop losses and saline water intrusion into drinking water has been reported in Kerala during severe summer owing to salinity intrusion. In Goa, mining has affected groundwater and surface flows and drainage patterns of rivers impacting downstream needs and water quality. Tailings from mines are polluting streams and rivers. The Kudremukh mining issue is a classic case of mining-related pollution.

This mountain range has a long history of human interventions and each of these have directly or indirectly impacted upon the water resources availability and recharge in the region. Some of the important interventions and issues that have had lasting impacts on water resources and its management in the Western Ghats are briefly discussed below.

NEXT : Issues of Concern - Forest destruction in the river catchments

To be continued ..

JAIHIND
VANDEMATHARAM