State of the Environment in Kerala: What Price the Development Model?

Author(s): Ramakrishnan Korakandy Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 35, No. 21/22 (May 27 - Jun. 2, 2000), pp. 18011804 Published by: Economic and Political Weekly Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4409317 . Accessed: 18/10/2011 04:31
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of the State in Kerala

Environment

WhatPricethe DevelopmentModel?
The Kerala governmentis throwingthe state's natural resources open to exploitationby the agents of globalisation, ignoring the and the people's demandfor the protection of the environment maintenanceof sustainability.It is timefor the state to thinkafresh about ecology in the light of the celebrated Kerala model of development.
KORAKANDY RAMAKRISHNAN

erala has achieved remarkable progress in the fields of health, iteracy, housing, etc, and earned worldwide praise for the quality of life of its people. It is now considered a model for people in other parts of the world to follow. The pattern of development achieved by Kerala has been christened the 'Kerala model' of development in certainacademic circles. Kerala's achievements have been attributedto progressive policies adopted by successive state governments. The state is now poised for a quantum leap in its accomplishments with greater involvement of the common people throughwhat is now called as the people's campaign for the ninth plan. It has identified sectors like tourism, aquaculture, power production and software production as priority areas for people's participation. Chief minister E K Nayanar has declared the state an 'Internetvalley', true to the spirit of globalisation. Keralahas long been described as 'god's own country' in tourism circles. An American (a woman) participating in a seminar on tourism in Cochin described Kerala as the 'world's closely guarded secret'. Thatshould not surprisethe people of Kerala who rarely reveal their worth to others.But it is good news for the seminarhungry and for new-world academics and policy-mongers. However, one is disconcerted when one looks at the environment of Kerala's forests, rivers and coastal belt. The managementof these resourcesfollows neither the principles of sustainability nor those of transparency and accountability. Recognition of these omissions in the management of the economy of the most literate state, a 'progressive' one, calls for

no erudite scholarship in economics. An honest and impartial look at the contemporary economic and social scene will make the default clear. While assessing the state of the environment in Kerala, one should keep in mind the basic concepts of natural resource conservation, selfmanagement and sustainability.

Basic Concepts
'Conservation' aims at the sustained use of naturalresources through the preservation or propagation of animal and plant breeding stock and such manipulation of the current use of the other exhaustible natural resources as would make them available for use in the future as well. The manipulation could take the form of rationing or recycling either of which would control consumption. 'Self-management' is a modern management tool which envisages people's participation in the management process - in the making and implementation of decisions and the sharing of benefits. It probablyoriginatedin a belated realisation that only decentralised, participatory management could bring about the transformationthatany management,especially community development management, is expected to achieve. It is claimed thatonly self-management or management by people's councils at the grass roots level can reflect community needs and aspirations and spur changes in social-goaloriented action programmes. It is also ranked among the least-cost methods of planning. The greatest appeal of self-management is that it is democratic, decentralised and in transparent its working.The democratic, principle of accountability is seen as one of its attributes. The decision-makers are responsible for the decisions they take, theirimplementationandthe results, while

they are themselves the beneficiaries of their actions. 'Sustainability' is a criterion of natural resource management or economic development which aims at ensuring the continued use of resources now and in the future. As Asheim puts it sustainable development is "a requirement to our generation to manage the resource base such that the average quality of life we ensure ourselves can potentially be shared by all future generations" [Asheim 1991]. It has been characterisedas 'non-declining consumption over time' and as 'nondeclining utility', the concept of utility including the non-material values including, the satisfaction derived from the naturalenvironment, and aesthetic values. The former concept is a pure economic quantity, the promotion of which, however, affects the latterone: economic value is added only through a continuous transformation of ecological resources. Sustainable development requires prevention of the fall in the natural capital stock below the safe minimum standard (SMS) identified for each component of the stock. Here the role of conservation is explicit. Sustainable development involves the achievement of equity both within each generation (intra-generational equity) and across generations (inter-generational equity). Equity is demanded on ethical rather than on efficiency grounds [Hanley et al 1997: 425].

Crisis Areas
How is Kerala managing the environment of its forests, riversandcoastal zones? These areas are being focused on because they are the majorareas of public concern, areas in which, in recent times environmental-economic crises have led to social ones with political overtones. A scrutiny of these areas may be made from the point of view of conservation, self-management and sustainability.

Forest Front
The crisis in the forest environment is manifest in the dwindling forest cover of the state. The total forest area of the state has come down from 11,241.97 hectares in 1994 to 11,236.06 ha in 1996. The forest cover in the Periyar catchment area alone is reportedto have dwindled by twothirds over the last 100 years [The Hindu, 7.5.98]. Deforestation and encroachment by ettlers are the obvious reasons for this development. This has been alluded to in the Economic Review of Kerala, 1994. The review noted that "the dichotomy between the area classified as forests as per land

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recordsand the actual forest cover had of in alwaysbeena matter controversy the past" [State PlanningBoard 1994: 66]. This simplyindicateswhathas been happeningto the forestareasoriginallynoted as such and what is left of them now. It also indicates governmentacquiescence in the ongoing rape of the forests by settlersand others. Here, the goal of conservation beenthrown thewinds has to as it is foundpoliticallyunfeasible.Perhaps the government'sapproachto this task is designedto suit the 'social values and economic interests of those who contend for political dominance in the state legislatures'[Heikeoff 1980: 1]. Large-scaleillegal felling of trees by estateownersandothersis a critiprivate cal issue which newspapersin the state have reported umpteentimes. TheHindu of November 5, 1996 reportedthat "a recentprobeby the vigilancewing of the Keralaforest department confirmed had aboutlarge-scale unlawfulfelling reports of trees in Nelliampathy hills". Quoting the vigilancewing's report, said"Many it estatesarenot being managed profitably. Theirmain sourceof income appearsto be felling of trees." The paper furtherreportedthat there wereinstances estateownersobtaining of for permission tree-fellingfrom the government the courtsafterthe divisional or forest officers or range officers had rethe jectedtheirapplications. "During past few years various estate owners in the area had obtainedgovernNelliampathy mentorders fellingtrees.Ina few cases, for to permission fell trees has been granted basedon directionsof court". It is also reportedthat trees are felled in leased-out estates when the leases are about expire.Large-scale to of destruction forests and trees is reportedto have resultedin soil erosion, change in climate patterns,movements of wild animals, to conflictbetweenman leading increasing andanimals, disappearance rare and of and flora and fauna. endangered TheHindu further notedthatthedestruction of the forest and tree cover in hills in Nelliampathy hadresulted a growing incidenceof poaching in the area. for had Ground-clearing plantations led to of the destruction rare and endangered orchidspecies. in Acquiescence the illegal occupation anddestruction theforestareaby greedy of settlersandestateownersis evidentin the government'sregularlyvesting holding rightsin the settlersonce sufficientpolitical pressure exertedby the settlerfarmis ers' lobby.Thatsuchwas the approach to the governanceof vested lands became

in apparent 1996, when the stategovernmentwanted obtain president's to the assent to theverycontroversial Kerala Scheduled on Tribes(Restriction Transfer Lands of and Restoration of Alienated Lands) Amendment Thegovernment an Bill. sent to all-party delegation New Delhi to press forpresidential ratification thebill,which of infactsought legalisethesettlers' to claims to tribalpeople'sencroached usurped and lands.OnerecallsShakespear's comment: Whatshallhe havethatkilledthe deer? His leatherskin and hornsto wear, Then sing him home? Take thou no scorn to wear the horn? Thoughthe president'sassent was not the is forthcoming, government still after it. The fundamental question here is whethersuch acts embellishthe imageof the 'mostprogressive' stateor 'god's own country'and whetherthey fulfil the conditions ofsustainability, self-management, conservation, upheldby postmodern, etc, reformist,'one world' post-communist, humanity. Whatone findsin thehomesteads hill of is with peoplein Kerala totallyat variance whatone hearsaboutprotection indigto enouscommunities, etc, cultures, at internationalseminarsand meetings.The intelligentsia mightsuggestmorestudiesand demandmore funds for them. RiverScene The situation to relating Kerala'srivers is attended a multitude problems, of the by mostdamaging sedimenbeingpollution, tation, sand mining and constrictionof riverflows. A V Thamarakshan, chairman of the legislativeassemblycommitteeon has environment, said "Theriversystems are in real dangerof being irrevocably of polluteddue to heavydischarge industrial effluents and other factors" [The Hindu, 17.6.1998]. froma recent of Quoting survey 12major riversof the state, includingthe Periyar, theBharathapuzha, Pamba, Chaliyar the the and the Valapattanam, notedthe preshe ence of high levels of coliformbacteria in most of the rivers.The problemwas reportedto be most serious in the Pamba withpilgrims causingmostof thedamage. Ithasalsobeenobserved a tendency that to dumpgarbageandanimalwastesfrom and slaughterhouses to dischargesewage waterdirectlyinto riverswas growingat an alarming in the state.A June1998 rate incident large-scale of deathsof fish in the Periyarnear Eloor impelled the state's pollutioncontrolboardto serve a showcause notice on FACT,a leadingpublicsectorundertaking. undertaking The allegeffluentsinto the edly releaseduntreated

riverthus bringingaboutthe fish deaths or Sedimentation siltationplagues aimost all the state's rivers,reservoirs and backwaters. erosioncausedby deforSoil estationand variousagricultural, mining andconstruction activities haveledtolargescale siltation of the water bodies. The acute in the case problemis particularly of thereservoirs. hasreduced It their waterholdingcapacityandaffectedtheutilityof the dams. Siltationin the mouthsof riverscauses, besides navigationbottlenecks,flooding and damage to the environment.Such are at phenomena conspicuous Azhikode, The Beypore,Ponnaniand Munambam. government spendslakhsfor clearingthe sandbeds to keep the ports safe for nevigationand protectthemfromfloods. Siltationin the Vembanadlake seems to havereached criticalstage.Itthreatens a to turnthe lake into a marshin a matter of years.Thedamageto theecologyof the lake causedby siltationand waterpollution would be abysmal. Sandmining,though advocated some by as a solution to the siltationproblem,is in fact a threatto the ecology of the river fromcausingbankerosion, systems.Apart flooding, salt water incursion,pollution, etc, it is also loweringthe waterlevel and causing droughtin the valleys. Havingassumed dangerous proportions, sand mining in the state has triggereda to people'smovement savetheriversfrom the clutches of the constructionlobby. Peopleof thevalleysof theBharathapuzha, thePeriyar thePamba and camorganised paigns for the controlof sand miningin theseriversthrough quotasandthe fixing of area and zone limits for the activity. It becameclear,however,thatin many was places the administration subjectto pressure from various quarters. In Ernakulamdistrict, the administration fromthe construction yieldedto pressure sector, includingthose who have undertakento buildan airport, four-lane a road andotherpublicutilities.Itpermitted sand miningin the Periyar,violatingmanyof the recommendations an 'expertcomof mittee' constituted by the government Sandmining,siltationandwaterpollution have adversely affected the water ecology of the state.Thishasexposedfish to diseases, mass mortalityand loss of habitat. indigenous The for fishery mahseer, the majorgamefish of the state,is reportedly becomingextinct. Next, damming and channelisation. These activities virtually are the killing rivers of Kerala.The Periyarhas been dammed
[The Indian Express, 19.4.1998]. [The Hindu, 16.6.1998].

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at 14 sites. This has affected its water flow. In several places the river has become virtually invisible. The fate of the is Bharathapuzha even worse, with a larger numberof dams cutting its tributaries.The river is virtually dry in the lower reaches in summer. This makes it easy prey to sand mining. Damming and constriction of the water flow has made the Pamba quite shallow. In many places the original riverbed, complete with clay and tree trunks, is reportedto be exposed to view. Unchecked sand mining has deepened the riverbed, causing landslides and floods during the monsoon. Deforestation and soil erosion upstream have caused siltation and river constriction downstream. A new dimension has been added to this problemwith the government constructing a sub-surfacedam at Maramon, ostensibly to protectthe sand bed accumulated on one side of the river- which is used seasonally as a convention venue by Christian religious groups every year. While the government claims that this structure is important for the irrigation of the region, it has failed to respect the traditional use of this stretchof riverfor festivals by the local Hinducommunity,which plies snake-boats to the nearby Aranmula temple. This has roused the ire of the community, which in fact demolished certain stretches of the sub-surface dam which reportedly obstructed the smooth passage of the boats during the Onam festival. Moreover, it is feared that the sub-surface dam would cause floods in the lower bank side and even lead to a change in the course of the river. Any damage caused to the local community on this account may not be measurableon any economic scale. A similar threat to ecology and culture has been reported in the north Wynad region. The setting up of a hydro-electric project there is seen to spell ruin for the kurichiatribesmen [Rajeev 1998]. The tribe has alreadyhad much land usurped and its womenfolk sexually exploited by settlers and government officials. The many hydel projects planned for the northern districtswill indeed ease the power problem in the Malabar region, but at an ecological and culturalcost. Some bureaucratsmay venture to say "You can't make an omlette without breaking a few eggs, and if the state needs the vital electricity, you have to pay its social costs too" [Rajeev 1998]. The ethics of robbing one community to pay another is not difficult to understand. To quote Heikoff again: "Theirapproaches to this task vary according to the social values and economic interests of those

for whocontend political dominance the in state legislatures." The mostdisturbing of suchdevelpart opments, however, is that they destroy whatis generally in honoured civil society as the 'existencevalue'or 'bequestvalue' of riversfor futuregenerations. Theythus reverse the principle of 'non-declining utility' for generationafter generation. This violates the cardinal principle of sustainability. One fears that the culturalvalues of traditional communities beingtrampled are and upon for wantof politicalpatronage organisedresistance.How far the Kerala modelof politicaleconomywill preserve indigenousways of life is now a question of environmental economics. The situation calls for an 'informedcitizenry' to on 'mountpressure' 'vote-sensitive legislators' [Owen 1980: 153]. Coastal Zones The most controversial disturbing and environmental in in problem Kerala recent timeshasbeentheproblem coastalzone of The management. crisis was heralded by the Keralagovernment in publishing July 1996 the coastal regulationzone (CRZ) issuedby the centralgovernnotification, ment in February1991. The notificationseeks to protect the fragile eco-system of coastal areas by classifyingtheminto fourzones andprohibitingcertainactivities in each of the zones.The fourzones are: CRZ-1,which includes ecologically senitive areas and areas and the fallingbetween low-tide hightide lines; CRZ-2, which includes aeras thathavealready beendevelopedup to or close to the shore line; CRZ-3, which includes areas that are relativelyundisturbedandthatdo not belongto eitherof the first two zones; and CRZ-4, which covers coastalstretchesof the Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweepislands and small islands elsewhere. in The activitiesprohibited the various zones include:the settingup of new industriesandexpansionof existing industries; the manufacture, handling,storage or disposalof hazardous the substances; of settingup or expansion fish-processing the units, includingwarehousing; setting up or expansionof units for the disposal of waste andeffluents;and the discharge of untreatedwastes and effluents from industries,urbancentresor otherhuman settlements. Theprohibited activities include also the dumpingof city or town waste for land the filling orfor anyotherpurpose; dumpingof ashoranywastefromthermal power stations; land reclamation,bunding or

disturbing the naturalcourse of sea water; the mining of sand, rock and other substratamaterial;the harvesting or drawal of groundwater and the construction of a mechanism for that within 200 metres of the high tide line. Also prohibited are construction activities in ecologically sensitive areas, any constructionbetween the low-tide andhightide lines and the dressing or altering of sand dunes, hills and other natural features, including landscape changes for beautification, recreation and other such purposes. The central government also issued guidelines for the development of beach resort hotels in the designated areas of CRZ-3 for temporary occupation by tourists subject to prior approval from the ministry of environment and forests. It became apparentvery soon, however, that the state government was in no mood or position to implement the provisions of the CRZ rules. The government began to plead with New Delhi in collusion with the hotel, tourism and builders' lobbies, for the exemption of Kerala from the provisions of the notification. [The Hindu, 12.11.1996]. It argued that implementation of the CRZ restrictions on construction and otheractivities in the coastal zones would adversely affect the state's economic development. The Kerala government also appointed an 'expert committee' to suggest changes in the CRZs. However, several people's organisations in the state - the KeralaSastraSahityaParishat(KSSP), the KeralaSwathanthraMatsya Thozhilali Federation, the National Fish Workers' Forum, etc - demanded wholehearted implementation of the CRZ rules. They assertd that all the 13 prohibitory norms in the CRZ notification were aimed at protecting the wealth and welfare of the coastal people and that the politicians and others who said the norms were against the interests of the coastal fishermen were trying to hoodwink the fishermen and promote the narrow interests of industrial and business lobbies [The Indian Express, 13.11.1996]. The KSSP observed that the CRZ rules were in the spirit of agenda 21 of the UN conference on environment and development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazl in 1992. Far from sharing the misgivings about the rules voiced by political parties and vested interests, the fishermen community held that the notification would help protect its interests, it said. The KSSP expressed the view that the CRZ notification, which prohibited the setting up of new industries, the expansion of existing industries, the discharge of

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untreated effluent and the dumping of waste, would help control pollution of the estuarine backwaters - which had contributed to the decline of the state's fish resources. Italso assertedthatthe fears of an adverse impact on development voiced by certain lobbies were highly exaggerated. It noted that the restrictions in fact applied only to the very limited stretchof the coastline (14 per cent of the whole) which was stated to constitute a fragile eco-system and historically important sites, besides the inter-tidalzones. Within the 500-metre sea frontzones, restrictionshad been proposed only over less than 2 per cent of the whole 'no development' zone. It was also pointed out that in Kerala's coastaltowns (CRZ-2), where coastal roads and approved built-in structures already existed, the CRZ rules did not prohibit the construction of new houses [The Hindu, 21.1.1997]. That the state government has a questionable attitude to the protection of the coastal environment is abundantlyevident. Crucially, it is evident in its approach to the promotion of intensive aquaculture in the coastal belt, which the Supreme Court declared ultravires the provisions of the CRZ rules in December 1996 and ordered wound up before April 30, 1997.

As is now well known, the Kerala acquiescedin a centralgovgovernment the ernmentmove to reintroduce aquacbill and ulture in parliament, contravening the spiritof the CRZrulesand bypassing the Supreme Court judgment whichhad bannedall formsof intensiveaquaculture in the country. The stae government'sapathyis also evident from its lackadaisical attitudeto the imposition of a permanentban on and of trawling to theprevention pollution wetlandrecof the coastalenvironment, etc. Its lamation,mangrovedestruction, with dilly-dallying theCRZruleshasmade it plainthatit has no will to promote susin tainabledevelopment the coastalzone. Conclusion It seems thatthe managers thepolitiof cal economyof Keralaare not interested in following the principlesof conservaand tion, self-management sustainability. the On the contrary state and its administrationare fast falling in line with the its globalisation processby throwing natural resourcesand its environment open for aquaculture,tourism development, power production, etc, ignoring the for of people'sdemand the protection the environment and the maintenance of sustainability.

Kerala should think afresh about its model of developmentand the political economy it is now pursuingif it is to deserve being describedas 'god's own country' or the land of 'legendary communism'. It should abandon its consumerist,'cowboy' approach. [

References
Asheim, G B (1991): 'Defining Sustainability When Resource Management Does Not Have Deterministic Consequences' (mimeo), Department of Economics, University of Oslo. Hanley N, J F Shogren and B White (1997): Environmental Economics in Theory and Practice, Macmillan Press, London. Heikoff, J M (1980): Marine and Shoreland Resources Management, Ann Arbor Science Publishers Inc, Ann Arbor. Owen, Oliver S (1980): Natural Resource Conservation - An Ecological Approach, Macmillan Publishing Co Inc, New York. Rajeev, P 1(1998): 'Will KurichiasBecome Mere History? The Hindu, Thiruvananthapuram, June 28. State Planning Board (1994): Economic Review of Kerala, 1994, Government of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram. The Hindu, Thiruvananthapuram (1998): May 7, June 16 and June 17. The Indian Express, Cochin (1996, 1998): November 13, 1996 and April 19, 1998.

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