CHENNAI: Environmental organisation Poovulagin Nanbargal has urged the Tamil Nadu government to take urgent measures to protect the Western Ghats, warning that unregulated development, loss of green cover and intense rainfall driven by climate change are increasing the risk of landslides in hill districts.

Poovulagin Nanbargal organisation highlighted the heavy rainfall recorded in the Nilgiris and Kodaikanal over the past two days and the landslides near Burliar on the Coonoor Mettupalayam National Highway and in Kodaikanal, which damaged roads and houses.

The organisation said climate change was intensifying short-duration, heavy rainfall events, while unregulated development and the loss of green cover had weakened the Western Ghats' ability to retain rainwater. It also questioned why restrictions on tourist visits were imposed only after severe damage and loss of life.

Welcoming resolutions adopted at a meeting on Western Ghats conservation in Palladam on October 17, attended by more than 100 environmental organisations, it urged the Centre and six States to implement the Kasturirangan Committee's recommendations to declare 59,940 sq km as Ecologically Sensitive Areas.

In Tamil Nadu, it called for declaring 6,914 sq km ecologically sensitive, regulating land use changes, restoring natural forests in plantation areas after leases expire and restricting mass tourism events beyond the hills' carrying capacity.

The organisation urged the state government to prioritise conservation, sustainable livelihoods and protection of the Western Ghats, which serve as a major water source and habitat for diverse wildlife.