ENGLISH

PROJECT
Essay on a documentary
The WOUNDED HILLS-A WORD OF
CAUTION

Name: Meryll rose joseph

Grade: 11-c
Admn no. : 29051
 Index

Sr.no Topic Page no.

1. Certificate of completion 1
2. Objective 2
3. Action plan 2
4. Questionnaire 2
5. Essay 3
6. Reflections 4
7. Art gallery 5
8. Bibliography 9
 Meryll Rose Joseph

11 C

2021-2022

1
Objective
To review, analyze and craft an essay on a documentary

Action plan

Objective Time limit Action

To decide on options 1 day Review of documentary

available
To choose a topic 1 day View various topics of social interest

Essay on documentary 2 days View the documentary and craft an

essay

To reflect upon the 1 day Write my opinions and reflections of

documentary the topic

To add pictures and complete 1 day Find relevant pictures and add
the project necessary documents

Questionnaire

1. What is the role of the Western Ghats in controlling the rainfall in southern states?
2. How equipped are we in facing natural calamities?
3. What are the root causes for such disaster?
4. How did it affect the lives of people?
5. Do negligent human activities stand as a cause of this
6. What are the preventive measures?
7. What is intercept the action of these measures?
8. Was this catastrophe foreseen?
9. What is the public opinion on this matter?

2
The Wounded Hills-A word of caution
The beauty of India is unmatched. Its soul ever so vibrant. Towards the end of this country
stands the Western Ghats with its heads upright proudly guarding the southern states. Kerala, the
land of greenery is among those states. The sights of the eternal rivers quenching the thirst of the
mountains and lush forests that inhabits various endangered species, rightfully gives Kerala its
nickname of being God’s country. The high mountains play an integral role as a key barrier to
the rain laden winds from the southwest. Madhav Gadgil, the chairman of the Gadgil
commission has cited this well-studied biodiversity hotspot as ecologically sensitive. This
pristine sites are now being a cause of anguish and nightmares among people. The amount of
pressure on these regions from the growing population, deforestation, exploitation of resources
and altering rainfall patterns are tremendous. This has led to one of the most devastating
calamities that Kerala has faced in about a hundred years. Disaster struck in the years 2018 and
2019 rendering many injured, homeless or dead. The mountains came down crashing to the
oblivious residents during the pouring night with absolute black out. The water and mud made its
way across the region washing off any structure that prevented its free flow. Debris, rocks dirt
and water left a trail of destruction. The landslides in Kavalappara and Puttumala shocked the
state claiming the lives of many. As stated by Mr. Gadgil, one of the main causes for this is not
to anyone’s surprise, Global warming. The altering climatic conditions has led to a decrease in
the rate of rainfall over the years while it has fed to increase of extreme conditions resulting in
such tragedies. The use of these sensitive areas lawlessly is a major reason for this. His
suggestions were declined by the government paving way to the impending disaster. One of
which was rock quarrying which has been mostly carried out illegally. He had suggested to put
to a halt to prevent its damage but to no avail. The blasting of rocks and heavy rainfalls led to the
landslides. This passes on threat to the rubber plantations, an integral part of Kerala’s economy,
which lack the ability to hold the soil firmly which leads to the land being carried away along
with the water. A suggested alternative to this quarrying problem is the use of granite that is
currently used to line up beaches across Kerala. Another reason for the landslides are
construction of roads and instillations of windmills. Though these are useful for the economy the
disruption it causes to the environment is not worth it. The fall in area for agricultural land,
landslides, environmental destructions are all a result of the lack of execution of policies and
contempt for science. It now haunts Kerala’s food security, economic prosperity and most
importantly, people’s safety. Sustainable development is the upmost suggestion by many
environmentalists who have spent time studying and understanding these regions. Scientists have
warned that if these unlawful practice continue, lives and livelihoods will be sacrificed. Not only
environmentalists and scientists but also inspiring poets like Sugathakumari and writers like
M.T.Vasudevan Nair have spoken out on the declining health of our environment. They have
criticized the present generation’s greed taking over our nature’s safety. Poet Sugathakumari
quotes” This efforts need to be made for our kids. We mustn’t forget that all these resources
belong to them. What we are doing are unforgivable sins towards the Western Ghats. Politics and
discrimination should affect the decisions made by the government. When a catastrophe strikes,
it affects everyone regardless of their religion or caste. Nature and God are one. The calamity
will come as a punishment for our acts.” Not 3 only the flood in Kerala but each and every
catastrophe happening around us is the result of our own deeds. Every tree that is cut off, every
quarry that is built and every plant that is uprooted is a step taken by us not only to the
development we crave but also towards the destruction that we overlook. Documentaries like
this, which has the power to indulge us into real world problems are necessary. There are
informative, straight forward and factual. They present us with the problems, their causes and
suggestions for us to ensure our role in the journey towards the solution. Nature has borne our
wrongdoings over the years, giving us opportunities to correct our mistakes, but we have ignored
it much like the awareness spread of environmentalists. We have to realize that our time for just
awareness has past, the time is ticking and now action is required. Rather than spreading mere
posters or speeches, now is the time for doing our part. The floods were a result of human
activities that involved deforestation and mining, but most importantly lack of effort by the
people and authorities to take action. Had the government heeded the advice of experts, lives
would have been saved and the disaster could have been avoided. No single person is to be
blamed for this, but everyone is worth the blame for the refusal to putting the effort to bring forth
and change for a better tomorrow. The real question put forward by the documentary is that’ Are
human and animal lives worth the cost of the so called development’. The right answer for this
is up to us, to either settle for the belittling living conditions while the rich earn lumps of money
for these activities or settle for sustainability and being the path for the future generations
towards enjoying these magnificent and invaluable assets.

Reflections
This documentary has been greatly informative for me. As a Keralite, it not only reminded me of
those tough times but also gave me an insight to how it could have been prevented. I believe
these to be signs from our mother nature to mend our ways and put our greed aside. It might be
impossible to bring about a change with only a few people onboard but that is the stepping stone.
We need to heed the experts and do the most we can. We need to reflect on our actions of
destroying and manipulating natural resources. Another point highlighted in the documentary is
the willingness of people to help each other without hesitation. Such times test our real attitude
and calls for us to be humane and selfless rather than selfish. This disaster was a wakeup call for
us to take the right action. It will be highly foolish to exploit these resources for monetary
benefits to secure our kids’ future and in doing so leaving them a scorched planet. It is now or
never. The clock is ticking and time is running out for us to act before it becomes uncontrollable.

4
 Art Gallery

Western Ghats-

The Beauty of the God’s own country,kerala-

5
Mr. Madhav Gadgil-

Kerala FLOODS and landslides-

6
7
Smt. SUGATHAKUMARI

M.T.VASUDEVAN NAIR

8
Bibliography
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTV-56QagQM
 https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/kerala-floods-kerala-part-of-our-success-story-says-uae-offers-
help-to-flood-hit-state-1902365
 https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/manimalayar-witnesses-biggest-flood-in-64-years-
kerala-1.6097412
 The Wounded Hills-The Hindu
 https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2021/10/17/kerala-rain-kottayam-idukki-landslides-
death-imd-warning-live.html
 https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/asia/2021/10/19/kerala-floods-climate-change-and-
human-activity-blamed-for-devastating-rain/