Revision as of 14:08, 19 April 2019

The place

Rajesh Krishnan, April 19, 2019: The Times of India

Wayanad's natural heritage is among India’s most biodiverse, ecologically rich and yet extremely fragile
From: Rajesh Krishnan, April 19, 2019: The Times of India

Wayanad- Agriculture is fast becoming unviable as the once fertile land has been robbed of its productivity due to chemical intensive farming
From: Rajesh Krishnan, April 19, 2019: The Times of India

Wayanad's natural heritage is among India’s most biodiverse, ecologically rich and yet extremely fragile

Under the surface gloss, though, deep problems lurk. Even within Kerala, Wayanad comes with a range of stark contrasts. One of the youngest districts (formed in 1980) and parliamentary constituencies in the state (established in 2009), it has among the longest records of human settlement in Kerala, attested by 7,000-year-old rock carvings at Edakkal that were discovered by Fred Fawcett, the then superintendent of police of Malabar district in 1890. Wayanad has also witnessed the highest number of farmer suicides in the state, even being called ‘Vidarbha of the South’.

Five farmer suicides have been reported here in last seven months. Agriculture is fast becoming unviable. The demonetisation drive during the peak harvest season and last year’s floods dealt a lethal blow to farmers

The district is endowed with enviable natural beauty and resources. It is Kerala’s pepper basket and produces over 80% of the state’s coffee. But Wayanad is the only district of Kerala — a front-ranking state in almost all developmental indices — which finds a place among 115 most backward aspirational districts listed by NITI Aayog.

One-third of the district is under forest. Its natural heritage is among India’s most bio-diverse, ecologically rich and yet extremely fragile. New species are discovered here almost each month, the newest being a previously unknown species of frog that was found in March.

Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad has placed this quaint district in the spotlight

“Being part of an ancient mountain range like the Western Ghats which is relatively under-explored, many more species are awaiting discovery in Wayanad,” said noted taxonomist M Sabu, who has himself discovered five plant species in the district.

The otherwise laidback hill district has started relishing its new-found status as a VVIP constituency. The tourism sector, which was badly hit by the August 2018 floods, is seeing brisk business with many hotels fully booked for the next fortnight as political leaders and the media have started arriving in large numbers.

How Wayanad has voted in past LS polls

Constituency created in 2009

2009: Cong's MI Shanavas defeated CPI's M Rahmatullah by over 1.5 lakh votes

2014: Cong's Shanavas defeated CPI's Sathyan Mokeri by 20,000 votes

“Rahul Gandhi’s candidature is going to be a game changer for tourism here, just like the visit of former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee to Kumarakom in Kottayam district in 2000 brought fame to it,” said B Anand, secretary of Wayanad District Tourism Promotion Council.

As far as tourism goes, Wayanad has many things in its favour. “Barring beach tourism, you can get everything here, from heritage to adventure and wildlife to farm tourism,” Anand added. Top hospitality brands including the Taj are setting up properties, and tourism entrepreneurs are buying prime land. In 2003, there were just four resorts here. Now there are 60. Moreover, there are tourist homes, economy lodges and around 150 homestays, together offering around 3,000 rooms.

Agriculture is fast becoming unviable as the once fertile land has been robbed of its productivity due to chemical intensive farming

But it is not all postcard-perfect. Behind the lush green fields and pepper, coffee and areca nut plantations dotting the sides of every village road lie tales of silent suffering and deprivation. Farmers are battling acute agricultural distress. The once fertile land has been robbed of its productivity due to chemical intensive farming and farmers trying various crops. Around 90% of the district’s residents are farmers.

“No other area in the world has seen such frequent changes in crops in 70 years. Farmers who migrated in large numbers mainly from central Travancore from 1950s onwards initially grew lemon grass, then moved to tapioca, which made way for coffee. Then pepper. Also, paddy cultivation has shrunk from 30,000 hectares 30-40 years back to 8,000 hectares today. It's falling further. All this has reduced soil fertility and canopy cover, besides causing the water table to fall,” said P U Das, assistant director, soil survey and soil conservation department.

What's wrong with Wayanad

On Niti Aayog's list of 115 most backward districts; poverty rank 75, health rank 114, education rank 112

Farmers battling acute agricultural crisis, climate change

Highest number of farmer suicides in Kerala

Reduced soil fertility, declining water table due to chemical intensive farming, frequent changes in crops

Poor policy decisions, deforestation endangering ecology

Forest produce like honey dwindling, affecting tribals' livelihood

Tribal have little access to housing, healthcare, education

Also farmers have been victims of climate change in the form of recurring drought caused by erratic monsoon in the district, which has been classified as one of the four climate change hotspots in the state.

“Five farmer suicides have been reported here in the last seven months. Agriculture is fast becoming unviable. The demonetisation drive during the peak harvest season and last year’s floods have dealt a lethal blow to farmers,” Rajesh Krishnan, a biotechnologist turned organic farmer and winner of the Youth Icon award instituted by the state government said.

Wayanad is the point of origin of 13 rivers, making it integral to the water security of both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Kabini, Wayanad’s major river, drains around 94,000 million cubic feet to the Kaveri.

“Almost all the current problems plaguing the district are because the region’s unique ecology is not considered while making policies for development,” said environmentalist N Badusha. The ecological crisis in the district is largely attributed to deforestation and fragmentation of forests.

Far from this debate, Chippy and Kamala, a couple from the Kattunayilla tribe at Ponkuzhi near the Karnataka border, continue with their lives as their ancestors have for thousands of years. They are honey gatherers. They depend solely on the forests for their livelihood. Every day, they go to the forest, offer prayers to their gods and climb tall trees in search of honey.

“Forest produce including honey, wild berries and lichen is dwindling. Last year the heavy rain and floods impacted the honey yield,” Chippy said. Tribals make up 18.5% of the district’s population, but suffer from land alienation and lack of access to housing, healthcare and education.

Political history

2009-2014

Rajeev KR, It’s Cong’s ‘crown jewel’, but with ever-shrinking margins, April 1, 2019: The Times of India

For Congress’s Kerala unit, Wayanad constituency has been a much-sought-after crown jewel among the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state for the last decade, ever since it was carved out in the delimitation exercise of 2009.

The constituency, which borders Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, got the tag of ‘safest seat’ of Congress in Kerala after it gave a record margin of 1.53 lakh votes for Congress leader late M I Shanavas in the first election in 2009. Shanavas, who represented the constituency till his death in November 2018, had, however, seen his victory margin dwindle sharply to 20,870 in 2014.

However, the contours of the electoral scene of the traditional UDF bastion has been transformed as never before with the high-profile entry of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as the candidate this time. With the election set to revolve around the pivot of Rahul’s candidature, it will be an uphill task for LDF candidate P P Suneer of CPI to mount a challenge.

NDA, which had earlier announced VV Paily of ally Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), is set to withdraw him and field a more ‘formidable’ candidate. But LDF, which had secured only around 80,000 votes in the 2014 election, does not have the political base in the constituency to give a tough fight.

Also, the pro-poor and pro-farmer plank vigorously pushed by Rahul is expected to find favour in the constituency, which has the highest tribal population in the state (18.5% of Wayanad district’s total population) and especially since 80% of the people, including plantation workers, depend on agriculture for livelihood.

Agrarian Crisis

As in 2019