Today is World Environment Day.
I have the fortune to have been born and brought up in Kerala, God's Own Country (inhabited by Devil's Own People, as one wag remarked recently).
The blistering dry heat of the Sun gave way to torrential downpour with the the onset of monsoon. The rains were heavy and spread across 3-4 months. My hometown, Palghat, also got the benefit of the rains from the North East monsoon during october - december. Water is the lifeline for plants and trees, and the reason why Kerala, in its pristine glory, looks as if a green carpet is spread across it. The shocking change in the landscape when one crossed the border to the drier Tamil Nadu was too big for the small kid in me to comprehend, when I was young. By Onam, in late August/early September, the whole state is painted green with multi coloured flower dotting it all over. Palghat, being the rice bowl, had hectares and hectares of paddy field, which changed from brown barren fields, to light green paddy saplings, to dark green paddy plants, to golden yellow when the fields are ready for harvesting. The numerous rivers, all streaming down to the Arabian Sea, was a life support system, apart from being a feast to the eyes.
Kerala has couple of uniqueness. It is perhaps the only state where there is a rural-urban continuum. There is hardly any difference between the rural and urban infrastructure. Another uniqueness is that, the coastline and the hills are hardly 40 kilometers apart, as the crow flies. Hence, to the locals and to the tourists, the State offers the experience of the sea, the breathtaking beauty of the backwaters, the paddy fields in the plains, the rubber estates in the mountain terrain, the tea estates on the mountain slopes and the forests.
But all those have changed over the years. First the rivers were blocked by dams and they dried out gradually, before being totally destroyed by the sand lobby. Today, you can hardly see a sand bed which allows for free flow of water. Thousands of ponds, that were full even in peak summer and contributed to reducing the temperature by 2-3 degrees were filled up and houses built on it. Gulf money and the rising demand for housing amongst the Keralites have led to a reduction in the arable land and has increased the pressure for water. The water tables have gone down. It was unimaginable a few years back that Keralites would have to resort to bore wells, for the water table was barely 50 feet below the ground level even in peak summer, and in winter it was hardly 2 feet. One could touch the water in the open well a couple of decades back. The mushrooming of houses increased the demand for housing materials, mainly sand, which led to the destruction on riverbeds. The concrete houses also contributed to the warming as they blocked the free flow of wind and increased the radiated heat content in the atmosphere. Finally, indiscriminate felling of trees in the forest and in the countryside reduced the green cover. The end result was erratic rain, land slides, gradual warming, water shortage and the ecological balance being disturbed. A sad development.
This World Environment Day, the Kerala Forest Department has announced a welcome project called 'Bhoomikkoru Kuda' ( An umbrella for the earth). The idea is to distribute and plant 10 lakhs saplings on the day. Functions have been organized in 63 Taluks across the State and all the VIP's from the Politico, cultural, arts, socio, sports field have been involved to create enthusiasm and awareness. The Saplings are available to anyone who wants it. The message is to plant one tree in every household and maintain it. This welcome move has not come one day too late.
Go ahead, Plant a tree wherever you are. Theworld can do with more trees. Be eco friendly.
