What is the issue?
Voices have been raised against the proposal of railway lines in Cauvery river basin in recent times.
What is its importance?
- The Cauvery basin drains an area of about 81,000 sq. km across three states and a union territory.
- The river originates in Kodagu district while it irrigates agricultural fields, generates electricity, and provides drinking water to downstream communities across south India.
- The Cauvery and its tributaries contribute the bulk of water to the Krishna Raja Sagara dam which is the primary water source for Bengaluru.
- But the proposed Mega railway projects are not only economically unviable but also ecologically damaging.
- It poses a clear threat to the long-term water security of the three States that depend on the Cauvery.
What are the major implications?
- Ecological - All the tracks will cut through large swaths of agricultural farms and fields as well as Protected and Reserve Forests.
- These areas are spread across Kodagu and Mangaluru districts of Karnataka and Wayanad and Kannur districts of Kerala.
- In its feasibility report of the Mysuru-Thalassery line, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation stated that the project would not be beneficial to the State.
- With the protests by the people against the project, the plan to build the line was scrapped.
- However, plans to build the tracks will re-emerge in time sooner or later.
- Forest cover - India State of Forests report 2017 noted that Kodagu lost 102 sq. km. of tree cover in just two years.
- The recent proposal might result in forest-depletion in the Kodagu basin that will have reduced capacity to capture and store rainwater.
- Raised railway tracks will also impede wildlife and could result in the deaths of endangered animals such as elephants.
What should be done?
- Studies by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology have found evidence for increasingly variable monsoon rainfall in the Kodagu basin.
- A recent study has revealed that activities like construction, illegal mining and hill cutting are increasingly responsible for the uptick in fatal landslides, particularly in Asia.
- This makes preserving forest cover more vital in order to mitigate the collateral effects of these extreme events.
- A UN report, Water for a Sustainable World, pointed out that the gap between the availability of water and our need for water is only going to increase.
- The journal Nature has reported that diminished access to water resources increases the risk of social unrest, political instability, intensified refugee flows and armed conflicts even within borders.
- The variable nature of monsoons makes India one of the most vulnerable regions to water-related disasters associated with climate change and extreme weather events.
- Hence, preserving existing forests in the Cauvery watershed can reduce the effect of floods and droughts, while recharging groundwater.
- Economists should estimate the monetary and human cost of cities and implement policies focused on achieving and maintaining sustainable water resources.
- Good water governance of the nation’s watersheds will be key to its sustainable future.
- Hence, protecting the Cauvery’s source is essential for the sustained well-being of the entire basin.
Source: The Hindu
