After a series of reports that pointed accusing fingers at extensive and unabated human interference, here is another report that says human exploitation of nature and heavy rains were the two main reasons for the catastrophic-proportion landslides and floods in Kodagu. This time, the report is official and has been presented by Geological Survey of India, a government body. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) team, comprising K.V. Maruthi, Director, and Senior Geologists Ankur Kumar Srivastava and Sunandan Basu, has prepared a comprehensive report after visiting the devastation-hit parts of Kodagu from Aug. 27 to Sept. 1. The team was entrusted with the responsibility of assessment of the nature, causes, the future risk and vulnerability at the landslide sites and also suggesting remedial measures — both immediate and long term. Notably, the GSI team has not ruled out future landslides and has asked the administration to prepare properly for any such eventuality. The report has now been presented to the Kodagu Deputy Commissioner. The GSI team compiled a 150-page report of 105 landslips in Kodagu. Of this, researchers had visited 85 spots and found that a majority of these are along the lineament (a geological feature which is an expression of faults and fold-aligned hills).
