Implement ecology report on Western Ghats swiftly: Gadgil
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MUMBAI: Madhav Gadgil, lead author of the ecology expert panel report on the Western Ghats, wants its recommendations to be discussed at public forums.
"The recommendations are not the final voice. They are the starting point for public discussion in deciding how natural resources must be utilized," Gadgil said. "The 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution mandate that locals must be involved in decision-making but the government has been reluctant to do this," he added.
Four of the 39 sites in the Western Ghats, which will now be on the World Heritage list, are in Maharashtra. The six states through which the Ghats pass have strongly objected to the report's recommendations as they fear it will bring "development" to a standstill.
The report underlines the development-environment trade-off has its strongest manifestation in the energy and power sector.
Authorities have slammed the report saying it will not allow railways, roads and electricity projects bringing development in the Ghats and elsewhere to a standstill.
The Maharashtra government, in its affidavit before the Bombay high court, has accepted the concept of demarcating the Western Ghats in various categories of ecologically sensitive zones, it has also objected to various recommendations.
"The decommissioning of large dams after 30-50 years will adversely affect water supply to cities while a ban on windmills will mean that local residents will have to be dependent on wood for fuel," said an official. However, experts who wrote the report have argued that, "If Mumbai has huge requirements; one may reasonably propose that a giant coal-based power plant be located on Malabar Hill, which offers a topographical situation identical to the Ghats. Such a location will mean that the power will not have to be transmitted over huge distances greatly reducing transmission losses and losses of horticultural production under power lines in the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg districts."
D Stalin, environmentalist and director of Vanshakti, said it was time the government explored solar energy as a source. "In Germany, the electricity obtained from solar energy is equivalent to what can be produced from 20 nuclear plants. If Germany can do this with its limited supply of solar energy, imagine how much India can produce with its location. The government must give incentives for such projects," he said.
Activist Sumaira Abdulali, who had filed a PIL seeking the report to be made public, said development could not be city-centric, because it eventually creates problems for those living in cities. "The Sawantwadi-Dodamarg area today is self-sufficient in food and supplies water to Goa. If it is diverted to cities, it will displace those people who will eventually migrate to the cities putting strain on its infrastructure," Abdulali, said. "The government is not listening to these people," she added.
Times View
The World Heritage Site tag makes it all the more imperative for the state governments and the Centre to implement the recommendations of the Madhav Gadgil Committee report. Even the judiciary has expressed its dissatisfaction over the delay in taking a call on the report. The administration needs to get its act together before it's too late for the Western Ghats.
"The recommendations are not the final voice. They are the starting point for public discussion in deciding how natural resources must be utilized," Gadgil said. "The 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution mandate that locals must be involved in decision-making but the government has been reluctant to do this," he added.
Four of the 39 sites in the Western Ghats, which will now be on the World Heritage list, are in Maharashtra. The six states through which the Ghats pass have strongly objected to the report's recommendations as they fear it will bring "development" to a standstill.
The report underlines the development-environment trade-off has its strongest manifestation in the energy and power sector.
Authorities have slammed the report saying it will not allow railways, roads and electricity projects bringing development in the Ghats and elsewhere to a standstill.
The Maharashtra government, in its affidavit before the Bombay high court, has accepted the concept of demarcating the Western Ghats in various categories of ecologically sensitive zones, it has also objected to various recommendations.
"The decommissioning of large dams after 30-50 years will adversely affect water supply to cities while a ban on windmills will mean that local residents will have to be dependent on wood for fuel," said an official. However, experts who wrote the report have argued that, "If Mumbai has huge requirements; one may reasonably propose that a giant coal-based power plant be located on Malabar Hill, which offers a topographical situation identical to the Ghats. Such a location will mean that the power will not have to be transmitted over huge distances greatly reducing transmission losses and losses of horticultural production under power lines in the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg districts."
D Stalin, environmentalist and director of Vanshakti, said it was time the government explored solar energy as a source. "In Germany, the electricity obtained from solar energy is equivalent to what can be produced from 20 nuclear plants. If Germany can do this with its limited supply of solar energy, imagine how much India can produce with its location. The government must give incentives for such projects," he said.
Activist Sumaira Abdulali, who had filed a PIL seeking the report to be made public, said development could not be city-centric, because it eventually creates problems for those living in cities. "The Sawantwadi-Dodamarg area today is self-sufficient in food and supplies water to Goa. If it is diverted to cities, it will displace those people who will eventually migrate to the cities putting strain on its infrastructure," Abdulali, said. "The government is not listening to these people," she added.
Times View
The World Heritage Site tag makes it all the more imperative for the state governments and the Centre to implement the recommendations of the Madhav Gadgil Committee report. Even the judiciary has expressed its dissatisfaction over the delay in taking a call on the report. The administration needs to get its act together before it's too late for the Western Ghats.
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