Environmental case studies from SW India

Abstract

Kerala state in the southwestern coast of India is blessed with 41 west flowing rivers that debouch into the Arabian Sea. These rivers are small with limited river bed resources. Among the various human interventions that are threatening rivers, indiscriminate river sand mining is of paramount importance as the activity irreparably degrades rivers and its adjoining aquatic environments. Studies reveal that the river bed in their storage zones is lowering at a rate of 5–20 cm per year. In the present chapter, two case studies have been examined to disclose the severity of environmental problems of sand mining from the rivers draining the Western Ghats—an ecologically sensitive area in the Peninsular India.