This monsoon has been marked by a series of landslides. The Western Ghats and Himalayas are among the highly vulnerable areas prone to landslides in India. The recent Wayanad landslide has turned the area into a scene of chaos and despair. This is not just nature's fury but man's greed too is behind Wayanad's tragedy. While environmentalists have raised concerns over deforestation and other human activities contributing to the calamity, geologists argue that the root cause remains natural even as human activities aggravate landslide conditions and increase casualties. Settlements in landslide-prone areas amplify the impact. According to the landslide atlas released by the ISRO National Remote Sensing Centre last year, 10 out of the 30 most landslide-prone districts in India were in Kerala, with Wayanad ranked 13th. The landslides also brought to the fore the unheeded warnings of the "Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel" set up by the government under ecologist Madhav Gadgil. The recommendations have not been implemented even after 14 years due to resistance from state governments, industry and local communities.
