The Kerala Floods are back in news and this time due to the amicus curiae’s report to the High Court which re-established the findings made in the report of The Special Centre for Disaster Research (SCDR). The SCDR was the first to investigate Kerala floods in August-September 2018 while the flood water and its impact was unsullied and more revealing. To recollect, SCDR report 2018 Kerala Floods Governance and Legal Compliance was released on 26th October at the Constitution Club in the presence of several resident editors, correspondents and media reporters. The state government was under severe criticism and it followed three months later to produce a counter report suggesting that the disaster was not man made but caused due to severe rains.The CWC also prepared a Report which has gone under severe scrutiny for ignoring basic documents of dam safety and reservoir operations.
The 2018 Kerala floods, began with rains as usual in May. For people of Kerala floods are nothing unusual but due to a more than normal rainfall which continued till the middle of August, the deluge turned into a disaster. Floods of 2018 claimed 483 lives and sent more than 14.50 lakh people in over 3,000 relief camps besides causing a damage in excess of Rs 30,000 crore. Due to absence of preparedness by KSDMA and lack of compliance to the existing NDMA , CWC and other flood manuals the regular government agencies could not put in their best in relief, safety and rescue work. The local fisherfolk communities were the
The SCDR report had established that;
- The floods were man made as IMD warnings were clearly indicative of the quantum of rain and periods of more than heavy rainfall.IMD cannot have done more than this limited role assigned to it. KSDMA, CWC and Dam authorities was to interpret the warnings and take preemptive action.
- KSDMA lacked preparedness ie; mapping, early warnings and subsequent coordination of rescue and rehabilitation works of NDRF, Army and Coast Guards.
- Appropriate and scientific Dam management was ignored to address the priorities of electricity companies
- Local fisherfolk communities provided intensive support of all types during the disaster in contrast to the state authorities who were trivializing and indifferent.
The SCDR research team faced rough times with the state authorities as they located starving displaced people which had a substantial number of old, single and unwell seeking support at some Alappuzha panchayats. Further away at Idukki in the midst of highly devastated landslide affected villages the team found absence of relief work till the 4th September.
Soon after floods several petitions were put as Public Interest Litigation before the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam seeking a judicial probe into this disaster.Besides these writ petitions, a letter to the Hon’ble Justice V.Chitambaresh from Joseph N.Rappai initiated a Sou Motu PIL. All these PILs pertain to various aspects relating to the management of dams in Kerala as one of the main cause for floods of 2018.Common averments in these PILs are to the effect that Kerala floods of 2018 was aggravated /caused due to the mismanagement of dams and uncontrolled release of water. The High Court appointed a senior advocate Jacob P.Alex as amicus curiae to help the court in disposing off all these petitions. After studying 15 different petitions seeking a judicial probe into the cause of the floods, the amicus curiae submitted a 49-page report on Wednesday the 27th March.
The report acknowledges that during June-August 2018, the state witnessed an extremely heavy rainfall which increased between 15-17 August causing unprecedented floods resulting in massive loss of life and property across Kerala. However the amicus curiae’s Report reprimands the CWC report which had drawn a parallel to the 1924 rainfall to justify dam management as it was done. The overflow of water in Periyar, Pamba,Chalakkudi and Bharathapuzha was not a trigger for the unprecedented floods as the Report highlights the fact that in 1924 there was only one Mullaperiyar Dam whereas now with 80 plus dams the state gets greater capacity to moderate floods through reservoir maintenance. Also, the increased scientific capacity on data management suggests that there is no parallel with the 1924 deluge.
Another argument that none of the dams in Kerala were designed for flood control cannot be justified at the face of blatant dereliction of responsibilities by the state authorities towards updating its knowledge through well established Guidelines and Manuals. These include areas such as the maintenance of a flood control zone, inundation maps and balancing flood disposal with conservation storage. The Report quotes the respondent state authority that ‘in Kerala there is no practice of preparing inundation maps or Emergency Action Plans’(page 15 of Report). The NDMA Guidelines on “Flood Forecasting” and “Dams, Reservoirs and other Water Storages” in Flood Management indicate a role of managing storage capacity and also a long term reservoir regulation policy. As Dam management was completely ignored most safety measures were not even considered. The Report further indicted the state government for having blatantly ignored many rules and guidelines stipulated under National Water Policy(2002, 2012), NDMA Guidelines on Floods, RTIOR (Real Time Integrated Operation of Reservoirs,Central Water Commission 2005,Guidelines Issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards BIS 1994. Therefore, the dam authorities ignored the basic guidelines of Indian Standard Operation of Reservoirs and stored maximum water in reservoirs which accentuated the floods. The NDMA Guidelines as well as the CWC Manual has clearly written that water should be released before it reaches Full Reservoir Level (FRL) and should never be allowed to reach Maximum Storage Level (MSL). The CWC admits, “Floods may also get aggravated due to release of water from reservoirs when the rivers are already in floods.” (13.5.2 of Report) The Report acknowledged from its analysis that the water was released from all Dams after it had crossed the FRL and was nearing the MSL.
On the basis of these findings the amicus curiae’s report submitted to the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala demands a judicial probe into the Kerala Floods of 2018.
Amita Singh
Chairperson
Special Centre for Disaster Research
Professor of Law & Governance
JNU
