Give Earth A Chance: Kerala Road Map For Third World.

GIVE EARTH A CHANCE: KERALA ROAD MAP FOR THIRD WORLD. [email protected] EXTENDED ABSTRACT That the Physical System of Kerala is a composite of the land surface aspects like surfaces of variable slope angles and lengths underlain by rock, mixture of rock and soil and only soil (either transported or in situ), stream and river channels of various sizes, lengths and orders, characterizing the mountainous tracts of the high land (elevation = >75.0 m above msl) and mid land (elevation = 7.5 to 75.0 m.), and the backwaters and beaches the low land (<7.5 m.). Single most important off shoot or casualty of this mindset is the degraded physical system of the state. Very compelling evidences of aberrations can be easily gathered to demonstrate the degraded and wasted appearance of the various elements of the physical system. Large tracts of land surfaces of differing surficial and subsurficial slope characteristics have undergone severe denudation culminating the loss of valuable soil cover including its intrinsic nutrients from the clear felled slopes. Kerala’s share of forests falls short of the mandated one third of the total land area. The need for fine aggregates in the burgeoning construction industry devastated the riverine physical system and its ecosystem subscribing to a variety of losses and long-term economic costs. The “legal” river sand trade has translated extensive tracks of river channel floors into very ugly looking scablands. The physical system suffered on another count too, this time at the hands of tile and red brick industry. Enormous quantities of tile and brick grade mud from the river flood plains and the ancient valley fills, which invariably underlies vast expanses of paddy fields. Future requirements of classical construction materials in the housing sector, with the goal of providing minimum housing (~2.5 million units) for all families (below poverty line, i.e., BPL) in the society will call for 10s of millions of cubic metres of mud and river sand. Estimated volumes of construction materials like river sand and red bricks, go far beyond the potential reserve of these in parts of the physical system of Kerala (Table 1). Table 1 Potential requirement of sand and mud for full housing Potential Already Demand by Reserve consumed BPL Net balance Item by APL Housing (potential) MM3 MM3 MM3 Mud 300.0 160.0 80.0 60.0 Sand 96.0 10.0 2.5 83.5 Rubble UL 50.0 12.5 NA Assumptions: The estimated ceiling volumes are based on assumptions and hence field checking should yield lower reserves. BPL families @ 1/3rd of 3.0 crores (2000 Census) and 4 members/ family. Area of House = 25 M2 under housing for all program. Cumulative channel length @ 1600 KM (with fine aggregate quality sand) thickness @ 3.0 M. thick and width @ 20 M reckoned for reserve estimation. . The plans for transformation and up gradation of state’s NH system into 4 lane motor ways of international standard will again put great deal of added pressure on the physical system because of the

stupendous enormity of volumes of fine and coarse aggregates as well as subbing or foundation stones warranted by this proposed developmental activity, if classical technologies continue to be followed. Despite of the recent developments regarding new technology applications, the building technology and industry in Kerala had not undergone any degree of modernization until recently. Dishearteningly, introduction of unconventional materials in this sphere is only in the nascent stage and it is the plain outcome of extreme scarcity and not motivated by the desire for innovation or experimentation with new materials. World over the construction sector is over ready to accept and implement and fragment of innovation from within or without. It is high time, that the construction industry of the state sets its site beyond the borders of Kerala and imbibes the new air of renaissance to retool its engine. From the point of view of a geoscientist, I will offer the following. Firstly, in order to give a chance for the physical system and hence of the earth in Kerala, we start using the finer aggregates made to order or available readily at the Rock crusher heads, in order to give a chance to river channels. I will tell you why? Due to our own lack of understanding, we consider earth as nonliving, life less entity, though many life forms including us do co-exist (for many the word is exist). However, the earth itself has a “non-biological” life founded on the external and internal physical forces that drive the various internal and external processes. Further, majority of us are quite oblivious of the earth processes due to sheer lack of knowledge or understanding either of the cyclic nature of the earth processes or their time scale of operation. The various earth processes, follow different but unique time scales. The rock cycle, sedimentation cycle, weathering and erosion cycle, hydrologic cycle etc are some important ones. The long duration of cycles (spanning over 10s of millions of years) definitely are out side of our frame of imagination. That is the reason we are hyperaware and concerned about the weather and the seasonality. For example let us take the controversial river sand. The constituent particles of river sand are sourced out of soils (derived by the chemical decomposition of surficial rocks) that cover our cityscape and landscape including the farmlands and forests. Wrong tending of these tracts induce excessive or accelerated loss of soil materials to the streams and river channels where the sand is deposited from the water current when the latter looses its carrying capacity or competence. However, the finer particles of clay and silt ride in the water current to be deposited at sites of lower flow velocity, further downstream and away from the sand bars. Another significant aspect is the sand to mud (silt and clay) content in the soil. The chemical destruction of a unit volume of the commonest surface rock releases quartz (the chief constituent in sand) at just about one third of the original volume and clay and silt constitute the remainder. Did you ever wonder about the time required for this transformation of rock to soil? Soil formation model sets a duration of about one million years for 1.0 meter of soil to form. Or else, 1.0 mm. of soil requires ~100 years, and. obviously, it takes a little more than one meter of rock to make one meter of soil. Look at the following example. If a rock covered area of 1.0 Km2 is uniformly weathered to a depth of 1.0 cm., it should yield approximately 10,000 M2 or 20,000 tons of soil having 6000 tons of fine aggregate and 14,000 tons of mud and would call for a time span of 1000 yr. In other words, it takes 4 generations or 100 years to create 600 tons or 60 truckloads of sand. Assuming that the families in the APL segment will build @ an average 200 M2 houses consuming say 10 truck loads of sand, I will say that alone only members of every fourth generation will have an opportunity to go for a house their own. The regeneration of these is the result of a process that spans hundreds or thousands of generations. Therefore, the rate of exploitation of the river sand or the mud far exceeds the supply of these by natural processes. Exceedance of consumed sand beyond 50% of the total reserve is a pointer to the disaster of the river channel environment

Thus, it is imperative that this format of the physical system be in the minds of builders (if they have to be in the business), planners, and financiers as well as the clients. Indirectly, then the earth and us, both get a chance to continue with our life styles healthy and contributory and not adversarial. The enactment of sand mining regulation by the legislature of Kerala and the rules framed under this do have sufficient teeth to protect the riverine environment if the psyche of the officers in the ground where a little more greener. The ethos of the new breed of builders in accepting finer aggregate from crusher head is also a welcome sign but only a drop in the ocean as far as the physical system is concerned. Secondly, there is nothing called a free lunch as far as the earth system is concerned. It is naturally legitimate for the earth to be so. Whatever we do to the earth’s physical system, will be returned to us not in kind but by a response unleashing very large quantities of material and energy against which very little can be done to protect our self from. --------------------------