Watch | Wounded Hills, a documentary on the Western Ghats

 

Rains are not new to Kerala. The monsoons are the elixir of life to this southern State of India. But in the past two years, things have changed. Landslides in the Western Ghats have swept away land and lives at an unprecedented scale. What is it in the hills that has triggered this disaster? Much effort from eminent environmentalists and scientists have gone into understanding the issue. In broad terms, the understanding is that human intervention has upset the delicate balance among the various forces of nature in this ecological hotspot. Reports that detail the toll of human activity in the hills, such as the one from the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel led by Madhav Gadgill, have been the focal points of much deliberation and allegedly, little action. Amid the push and pull among governments and those tasked with action, it is the people that depend on them that bear the brunt of nature. In this documentary from The Hindu, we visit the wounded hills and people of the Western Ghats. We also talk to the experts and environmentalists who point us towards root causes and coming disasters.