One day before landslides, there were cracks in plantations!
“Protect hills to save Kodagu”
►Elders and leaders of organisations warn
# Washed out Kodagu: A series of special reports
Madikeri, August 26: Kodagu is a district covered with hills and valleys. Conservation of these hills is a must to save Kodagu district. It is impossible to imagine Kodagu without hills and valleys. Instead of natural disaster, manmade disasters are the main reason for the present situation of Kodagu district.
There is a big difference between Kodagu two decades ago and the present scenario. Concrete buildings come up in Kodagu which was covered with thick forest, high rise trees and greenery. Tar and concrete roads were laid amidst the forest area. Rubber plantations are being grown by cutting the natural forest. Increased ginger cultivation has depleted the fertility of the soil. Since it is tourist hotspot, the number of hotels and homestays is increasing considerably nowadays. Because of the greed of human beings, the nature is being exploited. This unimagined exploitation of nature has caused such a widespread destruction, according to experts.
Those who come to see the natural disaster at Makkandur in Madikeri taluk expressed their opinions with ‘Varthabharati’.
Kodagu district is a nature’s bounty with beautiful waterfalls and hill ranges. Most parts of the district covered with thick forest and greenery. It’s land of natural resources. More importantly, it is the birthplace of Karnataka’s lifeline Cauvery River. More than this, it is one of the bio-diversity hotspots with rare species of flora and fauna. But they are at the verge of extinct. The worst ever natural disasters are happening now. What’s the use if the people worried now, asks retired army officer KP Jagadeesh.
Deforestation was in large scale to grow rubber and coffee. The hill range was damaged to plant rubber saplings. As the hills are digging like steps to plant rubber plants, the surface of the hills was completely damaged due to which the rainwater is easily percolating instead of flowing down. As a result, the soil is loosening, and big hills are collapsing causing widespread devastation. Thousands of people are on the streets now. We should blame ourselves for this disaster instead of pointing towards the nature, said Kodagu Unification Committee president Suguna Muttanna.
In order to construct concrete buildings atop the hills, roads are being laid around the hills by digging the foot of the hills due to which, the hills are losing their base and balance. The place where the rainwater is flowing is being flattened for constructing buildings and roads. The natural flow of rivers and streams are being diverted. When its raining heavily, the rainwater flows over the roads and gushes into the houses in the absence of natural ways to flow. This would cause landslides and this is man-made disaster, he said.
One cannot deny the negligence of the district administration and the government for this situation. Both the authorities have failed to protect and conserve the rainforests, natural resources and Kodagu. Though there are some policies are in place to protect the environment, they are not being followed strictly. So, Kodagu will require a separate policy. First the authorities should check digging of hill bases, deforestation and timber mafia. Otherwise, Kodagu people have to face more disasters than this one, said Lions former president JS Madappa.
Permission should not be given to dig hills. If it is necessary, then the district administration should see to it that the norms are followed strictly. While laying roads around hills, proper drainage facility should be made to let rain water and construct retention walls. In place of streams and valleys, alternative arrangements should be made to lay roads. For any reasons, the natural flow of streams should not be diverted. Ginger is being grown in large scale. As the soil fertility is decreasing due to ginger crops and this is also causing damages. The district administration should take steps about this, Madappa said.
A couple of days before the landslides that happened in many places across the district, the cracks were developed in some places. Many people have observed these cracks in their plantations. They have observed the cracks on roads where the hills were sunk and informed the district administration through local bodies. But the district administration has failed to act on it, alleged a villager.
Landslides might have happened in hill ranges and non-inhabited places. This might have happened due to shifting of land’s base. The rainwater percolated in those cracks causing landslides. If the district administration took steps to shift the people and precautionary measures as soon as it was informed, more disaster could have been avoided, Kodagu District Growers Federation president Harish Appaiah said.
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RSS mouthpiece Organiser's article claims Catholic Church surpasses Waqf Board in landholdings: Repo
Thiruvananthapuram: An article in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) mouthpiece Organiser has stated that the Catholic Church of India holds more land than the Waqf Board, which has long been believed to be the second-largest landowner in the country.
The article, titled "Who has more land in India? The Catholic Church vs Waqf Board Debate," as cited by The New Indian Express, challenges the commonly held view and asserts that the Catholic Church is the largest non-governmental landholder in India.
"For many years, there has been a common belief that the Waqf Board is the second largest landowner in India after the government, however, this claim does not align with the actual data on land ownership in the country. The Catholic Church of India holds the distinction of being the largest non-governmental landowner, possessing vast tracts of land spread across the country,” the article stated.
The Church is said to own approximately 17.29 crore acres (7 crore hectares) of land, with an estimated value of Rs 20,000 crore.
The article further noted the significant influence of the Catholic Church in India’s real estate landscape, listing scores of schools, hospitals, nursing colleges, and other institutions under its management. “As of 2012, the Catholic Church has 2,457 hospital dispensaries, 240 medical or nursing colleges, 28 general colleges, 5 engineering colleges, 3,765 secondary schools, 7,319 primary schools and 3,187 nursery schools in the field of education and healthcare sector in the country. Much of its land was acquired during British rule. In 1927, the British administration passed the Indian Church Act, facilitating large-scale land grants to the Church," it added.
However, the Organiser article also raised contentious issues, alleging that some of the Church's land acquisitions might have been questionable. It suggested that the Church’s charitable services, particularly in education and healthcare, could be a way of luring economically disadvantaged individuals into converting to Christianity, with some reports claiming that tribal and rural landowners were coerced into converting in exchange for Church-run services.
“Several cases have surfaced where tribal lands, once belonging to indigenous communities, were gradually transferred to Church authorities under various pretexts," the article stated.
This published write-up comes at a time when BJP leaders, particularly in Kerala, are celebrating the passing of the Waqf Amendment Bill, which they have described as a "gift" to the Munambam protesters, who are led by the Catholic Church.
Interestingly, Organiser has deleted the article after it was published.
Article deleted but RSS mouthpiece @eOrganiser forgot to delete the tweet https://t.co/CTjvIwFeor pic.twitter.com/cFIT3can5J
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) April 5, 2025
