GOVERNMENTS MISLEADING PEOPLE

GOVERNMENTS MISLEADING PEOPLE

Gadgil

Prof. Gadgil was speaking at a lecture on ‘Science, democracy and ecology’ .He said the  power project should not be permitted as it did not have enough water to make power. “It will only make money for the contractors,” he said.The panel’s report submitted last year had been mired in controversy and had been rejected by the State government. A second panel headed by Planning Commission member K. Kasturirangan was appointed by the Union government to review the Gadgil report.Prof. Gadgil said he would study the Kasturirangan committee’s report when it came out and point out any flaws. “There are already some problems. They have not called the people to get their suggestions,” he said.He said the panel’s report had called for further examination into some aspects of the Western Ghats ecology. The first was to prepare more detailed data maps that showed watershed boundaries, other geographical features, and local boundaries. “What measures we suggested should also go down to the local bodies. They should be taken on board, and their recommendations should be considered,” he said.

Prof. Gadgil suggested the WGEEP report could be translated into Malayalam and circulated to local bodies for their review.“Our report was a genuinely scientific exercise in a genuinely democratic manner,” he said.He said that traditional knowledge resources such as fishermen’s practices should be preserved before they were lost.Nature lovers got together at the Baselius College and raised the need for the implementation of the Madhav Gadgil Committee report on Western Ghats and also raised concern about the incident in which a tiger was shot dead by forest department officials in Wayanad.The one-day event was organized by Kottayam Nature Society with the support of the Nature Club of the college."The event was aimed at creating awareness about the need for implementing the Gadgil report. It is crucial for the existence of mankind. Through the photo exhibition we wanted to showcase the organic diversity of the Western Ghats," said Dr B Sreekumar, president of the society.

The Madhav Gadgil Committee report is not against agriculture and development, said Calicut University former pro-vice chancellor M K Prasad. He was inaugurating the discussion on ‘Protection of Western Ghats through Gadgil Committee report’ organised by the Break Through Science Society district chapter at PWD Guest House in the city.It was in 2012 that the a 13-member Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel under environmentalist Madhav Gadgil was appointed by the Union government to study the issues faced by Western Ghats following the environment protection Act 1986. In August 2011, the panel submitted a 520-page detailed report before the government.“However the Union Environment Ministry was not ready to publish the report for some time. The findings of the Kasturirangan committee, formed to review the recommendations of the Gadgil panel, are against the interests of society. The propaganda that if Gadgil panel recommendations are implemented it would be against the interests of farmers, was created to protest vested interests,” Professor M K Prasad alleged.Break Through Science Society district convener Francis Kalathunkal presided over the function in which V Sathyanathan, C Ramchandran, A Bhaskaran, C T Appachan, P P Abraham, P K Sajeev Kumar and K S Harikumar also spoke.

The report of the Western Ghats ecology panel (Gadgil panel) is an attempt to replace the prevailing system of ‘develop recklessly, conserve thoughtlessly’ with that of ‘develop sustainably, conserve thoughtfully,’ said Dr V S Vijayan, member of the panel, speaking about report. Dismissing allegations that the Gadgil report is anti-farmers and anti-development, Vijayan said the report was, in fact, the opposite.  “The report says organic farming should be encouraged. We don’t say buildings should not be constructed. We only want them built in an environment-friendly manner.”The report says that more than 28 crore people from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa are dependent on the Western Ghats for water, which is fast depleting due to illegal activitiesA long-term plan for the conservation and sustainable development of the Western Ghats region will be initiated at a convention of stakeholders from six states located along the ghats.The convention, to be held in Goa on August, will also discuss in detail the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report. Madhav Gadgil, the architect of the report, will deliver the keynote address.

Prof. John Kurakar