Developments in India's Western Ghats - Disaster in Dams and Tanks

Abstract

The debates surrounding the India’s Western Ghats these days revolve mostly around the ecological aspects and yet to notice the full impact of siltation on water bodies in the plains. This note brings attention to similar discussions about forest clearings and consequential siltation in the nineteenth century and finds that nothing has been learnt. Three specific case studies of water systems – one major reservoir, a medium reservoir and an ancient tank network - are looked at in this note to understand how the ‘development’ in Ghats led to the decline of water storages far away from the Ghats. The debates surrounding the Ghats should be enlarged and taken beyond their ecological importance to include water deprivation affecting millions of farmers and ordinary citizens.