Unravelling the Dynamics of Landscape Changes and Climate-sensitive Diseases in Kuttanad Wetland Ecosystem, India

Abstract

The article attempts to understand the occurrence of climate-sensitive diseases in the Kuttanad Wetland Ecosystem, considering the backdrop of landscape changes. The study analysed the changes in the environmental landscapes of Kuttanad, which presumably had contributed to the disease epidemiology. The changes in the landscapes in terms of water bodies, land utilization, agricultural practices and other anthropogenic interventions were comprehended by employing the geographic information system and remote sensing approaches. Further, through oral histories, the perceptions of the local inhabitants about the changes in the ecosystem and disease epidemiology were captured. In the study, substantial spatial changes were observed in the wetland during the period 1990–2017. The development initiatives have created serious environmental damage and pushed the wetland into a state of ecological fatigue. The narratives from the field survey attribute the changes in the environmental landscapes as factors that contributed to the epidemiology of climate-sensitive diseases. Infectious diseases, mostly fever-type, assume epidemic proportions during the monsoon and create a feeling of trepidation among people due to their fatal and contagious characteristics.